It doesn’t look like concerts are going to make a comeback any time soon, but why should that stop you from enjoying ones from the past? There are a million reasons to love concerts, but one of the best has to be when artists experiment and develop songs further than their studio recordings. There’s something so inexplicably powerful about hearing music live. It doesn’t seem like we’re going to be moshing in the near future, but here are some of my favorite concert recordings to get you through until we can.
1. Led Zeppelin – How Many More Times (Danmarks Radio 1969)
I don’t even want to admit how many times I’ve watched this video. Shot before Zeppelin became the rock superstars they’re known as today, it’s hilarious to see only about 100 confused teenagers sitting at their feet cross-legged. Nevertheless, it’s an otherworldly performance. Their extended solos and improvisations add so much depth to “How Many More Times,” the last song on the first album.
2. Thundercat – NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert(2017)
This was the first Tiny Desk performance I’ve ever seen, and it’s honestly been the best. Thundercat is an incredible performer, live and in the studio. Though this video doesn’t quite meet “concert” criteria, it’s great to see Thundercat and his band performing together. They’re so wonderfully in sync, which really highlights Thundercat’s talent as a vocalist and bassist.
3. Greta Van Fleet – Lover, Leaver (Taker, Believer) Live in LA (2018)
I have mixed feelings about the up-and-coming rock group, but this concert is fantastic. It was filmed shortly after the release of their first album, “From The Fires.” I love how they seamlessly transition into different songs, creating the effect of the concert being one long track. My absolute favorite part is when they cover Muddy Waters’ “Rollin’ and Tumblin.'” You can really tell how powerful their sound is, especially from their guitarist, Jake Kiska.
4. Erykah Badu – Planet Groove Live (1997)
Wow, wow, wow! Miss Badu really came through on this one. She always has had the most amazing energy to her performances. This live recording shot for Plant Groove in 1997 is filled with so much emotion and power. Her backup singers are amazing too! Even though this specific video cuts off at the end, my favorite part is when she performs “Other Side of the Game.”
(Left to Right) Lucy Dacus, Pheobe Bridgers, Julien Baker
Boygenius is probably the biggest thing in indie right now. Not the actual band, who only released one ep in 2018, but the members. Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers, and Julien Baker; these three 25-year-old queer white women from L.A. via the upper south have come to dominate indie rock in the waning days of the genre’s relevance. Thanks to the release of Baker’s “Little Oblivions,” in February, we now have one full studio album released by each of the band members after their collective breakthrough with Boygenius. The cultural influence of these women is only widening (a friend of a friend at UNC Ashville just got a Phoebe Bridgers tattoo…) so it’s worth looking at their music, how they are similar, and why they’re different.
Baker
Julien Baker was the most established of the group by far coming into the release of Boygenius. Having released two albums and been signed to Matador, she had several accolades under her belt. Her sophomore album “Turn Out the Lights” charted well, and received good reviews from most major publications. Her musical style has also seen the most change following her association with the other two artists. Initially, Baker’s music was strictly one woman and a guitar, but her latest work sees her working with a full studio baking band similar to her contemporaries. This was a great relief to me personally, as I found the stripped-back style of her early albums a little tiresome. In a probable effort to shed the persona of “Sober, queer, Christian,” her latest album has been characterized as a concept album about her struggles with faith. This conflicted spirituality and struggle with tradition is a consistent through-line to Baker’s work. She’s also the most, for lack of a better word, literate of her peers. She has been published in academic journals, literary magazines, and her backup career was becoming an English teacher. This background helps Baker’s more restrained and refined lyrics shine through with a kind of classical appeal. Her poetry aspires to the heights of the Bronte sisters, rather than rock stardom.
Bridgers
Phoebe Bridgers is, in many ways, Baker’s opposite. Where Baker was well established and restrained, Bridgers had just debuted the year prior and saw a meteoric rise in popularity after joining the group. Her 2020 album “Punisher” has racked up three Grammy nominations and ranked among the best albums of the year in many listings. Her lyrical style has been characterized as emo folk, both as a compliment and as an insult. The music is passionate, straightforward, and unapologetically personal, discussing her relationship with her family, friends, and romantic partners. This makes Bridgers’ music the most accessible, and she has a devoted fanbase of young women and queer people who look up to her. In cultivating this fanbase, Bridger’s has created a more public life than the other members, sharing deeply personal stories of family conflicts, sexual assault, and mental health struggles. If any one of these women is likely to make a break for mainstream stardom, it’s Bridgers.
Dacus
Lucy Dacus is somewhat more versatile than her peers. Unlike the contemporary indie-folk of Bridgers and Baker, she styles herself something of a rock star, and the aesthetic suits her well. Her voice is by far the most powerful of the three, capable of hitting meteoric highs and contralto lows with ease. She also plays electric guitar as her native instrument. Her lyrical range is large as well, hitting styles like badass dad rock, straightforward love songs, and even flirting with country music. This makes Dacus something of a wild card, as she’s capable of changing her entire energy mid-album or even mid-song. She’s also my personal favorite of Boygenius, so I may be a little biased, and yes, I have screamed “Night Shift” at the top of my lungs at the three in the morning… multiple times.
In honor of Women’s History Month, I’m featuring some of my favorite female artists and favorite songs they’ve done.
Spend Some Time (ft. Wade Coal) – Amaarae
One of my favorite artists, as you can probably guess by the album reviews of hers I have covered and the artist spotlight I wrote last month. Amaarae has done a lot for the advancement of women through music and advocacy, so she’s the perfect choice for Women’s History Month.
Beef FloMix – Flo Milli
Flo Milli is a bada** woman who is taking the rap genre by storm. From popping up on TikTok to running the “e-girl” scene, Flo Milli transcends the traditional limits of how rap is defined and truly makes it her own.
Good to Love – FKA twigs
FKA twigs is an extremely talented artist who is also a talented songwriter, actress, and dancer. She has gone through a lot in recent years including alleged abuse from a past partner but has remained strong in the face of everything.
Nunchucks – Doja Cat
Doja Cat has evolved immensely and increased her notoriety throughout recent years. Since her 2014 EP Purrr!, Doja Cat has been a strong female rap figure and has changed the way women are viewed in the industry.
Satan’s Pilgrims is one of those bands that you can’t forget about. They first got their start in 1992, playing at house parties in Portland and destroying living rooms in their wake. The group of five quickly realized that their unique surf-doom style was in high demand. They were bringing something new to the table. At the height of grunge, they offered a playful yet dark take on surf rock.
Made up of Ted Miller, Scott Fox, Bobby McAnulty, Dave Busacke, and John Cox, Satan’s Pilgrims is a force to behold. Donned in cheap Halloween vampire costumes, they made a name for themselves fairly quickly. Inspired by classic surf rock artists like Dick Dale, The Ventures, and horror B-movies, they were one of the first bands to master the “beach goth” style.
Since their founding, Satan’s Pilgrims have released five albums, each as wicked as the next. My personal favorite is “Psychsploitation” (2009), which was their last album before they took a brief intermission until 2015. Filled with sludgy instrumentals and tight riffs, it’s the epitome of a great psych, modern rockabilly album. Their most recent LP, “Siniestro” (2017), explores the hellish side of surf rock, filled with song titles like “Creep Beat” and “Graveyard Stomp.”
Best Songs: “Dilation,” “Tomorrow Night’s Mourning,” “Haunted House of Rock”
*Disclaimer: I’m not a dog trainer or professional by any means, these are just some tips I’ve found that worked with my 10-week old puppy.*
Sleep and Crate Training
Encourage your pup to view their crate as a “den.” Make it comfortable, quiet, and safe. The first few days our puppy was not willing to sleep on her own but we used a snuggle puppy toy, a blanket over her crate to block out light, and treats when she stayed in the crate quietly. Our trick is to keep the puppy awake two hours before bedtime by playing with her, training her, and walking her. Sometimes giving a big treat or flavored bone to chew on will help keep them occupied and awake. After two hours of being awake our pup willingly goes into the crate and sleeps through the night. If your puppy cries in the crate, try to ignore it for 10-15 minutes (as long as all their needs are met). Saying “hush” or getting them out of the crate will encourage them to whine for attention in the future. Usually puppies will settle down after about 15 minutes of whining and fall asleep.
Chewing and Biting
I am fortunate that because of COVID, I’m able to work and study from home and can be with my dog during the entire day. Since she is either with me or in her crate, I usually don’t have to worry about her chewing cords or furniture. For the spots where she loves to bite, I have sour apple spray that is safe but tastes bad to deter chewing. As far as biting, I always try to redirect her biting me toward a chew toy. If she presents purposeful biting or aggression I either redirect it or give her a tap on the nose and a firm “no.” So far she is getting a little better about it, but don’t fret, most puppies will grow out of by six months.
House Training
I live in an apartment and I’m not on the ground floor, so instead of needing to take my puppy outside every hour, I use pee pads. I created a small, secluded part of my living room that she can access by herself whenever she needs to. During times where I can’t take her outside, like in the middle of the night, I place her there and let her pee. I always give her a treat after she uses it. I also make sure she doesn’t have accidents whenever possible by sticking to a regular walking schedule. I take her outside after sleeping and napping, before and after meals, and after playtime. Whenever puppies are sniffing the floor or walking around aimlessly, that’s a sign they probably need to use the bathroom. Generally puppies younger than three months need to go out at least every two hours. If you are taking them outside enough, they will have dramatically less accidents. So far house training has been a slow process but we’ve seen a lot of progress by giving her treats every time she uses the bathroom outside or on the puppy pads and making sure she gets enough chances to go outside.
These are the main things I’ve learned recently that have been helpful while navigating having a new puppy or dog. Happy training!
Promotional image from Amythyst Kiah - "Darling Cora" music video.
Tennessee Singer Amythyst Kiah released her new single “Black Myself” this year and it made some serious waves. The song is strong and serves as a mission statement for Kiah’s work so far. “They stare at me when I pick up the banjo because I’m black myself.” It’s a striking lyric. A black woman ostracized for playing an instrument of African origin associated with white culture. Amythyst Kiah is on the come-up, and I actually had the opportunity to see her live in Raleigh before the world ended. So let’s take the time to get to know this bold new talent.
Black Country/folk singers are in vogue right now, but the genre still has enormous barriers to entry for artists of color, and doubly so for a gay black woman working in the most traditional styles of folk music. However, there’s more to Kiah than just the novelty of a black bluegrass enthusiast. She also has songwriting chops and a voice to match the heavyweights of indie. Her music checks all the boxes for indie folk: deeply personal lyrics, complex guitar arrangements, a smoky beautiful voice. But it’s her influences that set her apart, drawing from old time folk, country, and blues more than Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
Her live shows are an engaging, if low-key, experience. Eschewing theatrics or hype, Kiah invites the listener into her world, sharing stories and the songwriting process. She creates an authentic experience, rather than a strictly entertaining one. Her band also seems to workshop her new material extensively on the road. She played “Black Myself,” in late 2019 when I saw her live, more than a year before its release as a single, and the song has seen some fairly significant structural changes since then. When the world finally opens back up, I recommend her show for anyone seeking a more relaxed and understated concert experience.
I was making my way through the crazy world of Tori Amos, and I noticed something weird. She kept making Nine Inch Nails references. She name-dropped the band, their album titles, etc. Puzzled, I checked the Wikipedia page for “Under Big Pink,” and realized Trent Reznor was credited with backing vocals on the album’s sole love song. How did these two artists from opposite ends of the music world come together? Little did I know I was about to get pulled into a mostly joking conspiratorial tale of hatred, (Courtney) love, and one of the funniest celebrity duos on earth. There are multiple blogs devoted to laying out these absurd stories, but the one I found most entertaining was this article’s namesake: The Tori and Trent Conspiracy. If you have a spare hour to read this and the other blogs linked, I highly encourage you to go on that journey, but if not, I’ll hit the highlights here.
“20090609 – Nine Inch Nails – Trent Reznor (singing) – (by Elizabeth Bouras) – 3616038356_eeb5ef594e_o” by Claire CJS is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/
So, let’s lay out the Dramatis Personae, shall we: Trent Reznor, creator and sole member of industrial rock’s breakthrough band: Nine Inch Nails. Perpetually miserable and probably a danger to polite society. Next, Newton, NC’s own Tori Amos. Classical pianist, songwriter, godmother of 90s chick-rock, weirdest redneck hippie witch-woman alive. And finally… Courtney Love. Okay look, I’m probably one of the last seven people on earth who actually likes Love, but even I have to admit that if you listen to more than a few stories from artists who knew her, she comes off as kind of the archvillain of 90s rock. No, she did not kill Kurt Cobain. Yes, her band is better than Nirvana (Come at me). Yes, she is a female version of the villain archetype on Ru Paul’s drag race. Everyone on the same page? Too bad, the story is starting anyways.
Tori and Trent
Tori Amos and Trent Reznor report admiring one other’s music long before meeting. This is a little weird, considering Tori Amos is a progressive pop singer a la Kate Bush, and Trent Reznor is a screaming nutjob a la the Butthole Surfers (real band NIN toured with), but it’s true. There are some shared themes between them though: both are unreservedly confessional lyricists, and they both really like pretending to be Jesus. Apparently, Trent Reznor reached out to say he loved “Little Earthquakes,” and a friendship was born.
Both musicians have given numerous accounts of their relationship, some seemingly contradictory, but all accounts of their friendship are bound together by being just absolutely hilarious. Amos seems to think of herself as a surrogate mother figure for Reznor, saying that she thinks he would be a lot less angry all the time if he had some more nurturing. To quote from Spin magazine’s interview with Amos, “What Trent Really needs is a blanky and a hot chocolate with marshmallows. He doesn’t need another hole to crawl in. I think someone should give him one of those little hard hats with a miner’s light on it, so when he gets lost in a dark hole, he can find his way out.” This is obviously VERY funny if you’re familiar with any of Reznor’s work, but it pales in comparison to “The Chicken Incident,” where Amos, upon visiting Reznor in the house of the Manson murders (which Reznor had rented out because you know, of course he had), spontaneously forgot how to cook chicken. She was going to make him dinner because, in her words, “He just looks so anorexic sometimes. I just look at him and go, baby, you need my cooking honey.” But on this fateful evening, she couldn’t as much as fry a chicken. This incident was apparently so scarring to the born southerner that she called her mother on the spot to ask her why she had just ruined a dish that she had been making for 20 years. Her mother, either a witch, a master comedian, or both, told her solemnly that ever since the Folger’s coffee heiress died in the Sharon Tate house, there has been a curse against anything culinary on the premises. No wonder Trent Reznor is so angry all the time, celebrity ghosts keep ruining his food.
The Conspiracy
So, what’s this about a conspiracy, and where does Courtney Love come into all this? Well, that’s where this objectively delightful story takes a turn for the tabloids, and I don’t totally feel comfortable repeating some of the things Bizarre Love Triangles or even some actual news sites say about the matter. I’ve linked the blog’s crazed spirals of conspiracy if you want to hear them yourself. But, to summarize, Tori and Trent’s relationship falls apart, according to Reznor, because of “Some malicious meddling on the part of Courtney Love.” This is a little confusing given Love and Amos have ostensibly never met, but Courtney has maintained that she had a romantic relationship with Reznor briefly, something Reznor denies. This has led to speculation about Love’s motives, and the precise nature of Reznor and Amos’ relationship, as well as lyrical analysis of songs Amos, in her own words, had “allegedly written” about Reznor. The blog also goes the extra mile to rope in every major 90s alt-rock star in the process. It’s a wild ride, but don’t take any of it too seriously.
So… what does all this tell us, other than to not make chicken on the site of a brutal murder? Well, I guess if I must make a closing remark it would be that genre is a fickle thing, and sometimes artists from opposite worlds can have some common ground. Amanda Palmer of Dresden Dolls fame wrote an interesting article about the two of them if you want an introduction, and if you like one, but haven’t heard of the other, give them a listen, you might find something new.
If you’re an NC State student, or really a student anywhere, you know how stressful midterms can be. What’s been getting me through those long hours of late-night studying has (of course) been music! These are some of the songs I’ve had on repeat over the past few weeks to help cope with the mountains of homework:
1. Guts – Budgie
This song gets me PUMPED. Released by a somewhat obscure protometal band, it’s sure to make you get that astral projection feeling with those incredible riffs.
2. Easy Street – Amanaz
If you’ve never heard of Zamrock, I highly suggest you start here. Psychedelic funk reached every corner of the earth in the 1970s, including Zambia. Amanaz is a fantastic band that arose during this time, combining funk, rock, and psychedelia.
3. Stoned – Allah-Las
This song comes off a compilation called “Psych Versions of the Rolling Stones.” Allah-Las does NOT disappoint. I’m usually not a fan of covers, especially from such a prolific band, but Allah-Las does “Stoned” justice.
4. Who Do You Love, Pt. 1 – Quicksilver Messenger Service
This is my favorite track off my favorite album by Quicksilver Messenger Service. First-rate song, first-rate band!
5. Four Lead Clover Salad – Richard in Your Mind
I love the mind-bending sound of this song. I’ll be honest, I haven’t listened to much of Richard In Your Mind, but this is definitely one of my most prized songs on my repeat playlist right now.
6. Home Town – Witch
Witch is another Zamrock band that you just have to check out. They have a heavier feel than Amanaz, combining a garage and metal sound to their work.
7. Dove – Cymande
You! Can! Never! Get! Enough! Funk! The members of Cymande are the kings of soul and dressing impeccably. This track shows off their unique, hip style perfectly.
8. 1983…(A Merman I Should Turn To Be) – Jimi Hendrix
The day I don’t include at least one Jimi Hendrix song on my repeat playlist is the day I die. This song was released when Jimi was still apart of the Experience group and it’s one of the most epic tracks he’s ever released. At a whopping 13 minutes long, it has tons of weird reverb and experimental noises that perfectly compliment his signature riffs.
9. Knowing That I’m Losing You – The Yardbirds
Jimmy Page’s brief time with The Yardbirds proved to be formative years that set him up for future songwriting opportunities. Even though this track was originally released by The Yardbirds, it would later turn into Led Zeppelin’s “Tangerine.”
Warning: listening to this music may cause a significant increase in heat. Your body may feel hot and you will feel an overwhelming sensation of “fire.” The Sugar Candy Album “666” is a unique style of music that was perfected by the cross-section of the passing of early 2010’s Psychedelic Rock and the popularization of more mellow Indie Pop. All pretentiousness aside, 666 is a really good album. It is probably Sugar Candy Mountain’s best music that they’ve put out since they emerged back in 2014 with their first full album “Mystic Hits.”
While “Mystic Hits” was undoubtedly a hit, “666” showcased the band coming into their own unique sound. Most of their songs tend to follow a similar pattern. The beginning starts out with a lackadaisical, relaxed beat that goes on throughout the entirety of the song while multiple layers slowly get added on as the song goes on. Moreover, the songs steadily flow into each other, making it easy to listen to all the way through.
However, if you’re in a rush and don’t have time to listen to the whole album, I would suggest starting with the first three songs and ending with the eighth and ninth. “Windows” and “Change” make a good impression of the album and “666” is definitely going to be one of my most played songs of the year. With it’s echoed guitar and dreamy lyrics, the song can change around my mood on even the most stressful of days.
Well that’s about all I have to say for this album, would definitely recommend with a score of 9/10. Hope you guys enjoy the music, -The DJ Formerly Known as Chippypants
