From the Woods to the Basement….

Due to circumstances blah blah blah…. no music shuffle this a.m. Too bad, ’cause I added some cool new songs to the mix, but we’ll get back to it in the morning. In the meantime, I wanted to take the opportunity to catch up something. First and foremost, something I should have written a week ago:

Sunday March 11, I headed over to The Basement where a mere $5 got me in the door. The Basement is literally the basement of Grimey’s New & PreLoved Music. I arrived about 15 minutes after the announced 7:00p.m. showtime, a woman wearing a leotard with face make-up and feathers in her hair and a guy also with make up and feathers but no leotard were on-stage not yet playing. A decent crowd assembled (decent for a Sunday night show). I was hoping to meet Matt from No Country for New Nashville, but unfortunately I never determined who he was.

Anyway, a while later the show started. Without an introduction, the previously mentioned duo began playing. It was a beat-heavy electro-pop dance music. Not my favorite genre of music, but the female singer had a good voice and the songs were pretty good. After the first song, the singer introduced herself, but I couldn’t really catch it. I found out later (yes cluelessness is one of more charming features) that this was Casey Desmond who was on The Voice last season. From what I read later this was actually a ASCAP showcase for Ms. Desmond, and also apparently some other Voice contestant’s where in the small club, too. Now, I have to say, unless Cee-Lo had walked in in full peacock regalia, I’m not sure I would have realized anyone from the Voice was there. All in all, I’d have to give passing mark’s to Casey Desmond. It was fun, she’s (obviously) got a great voice, and the music had enough of an edge below the pop to keep my attention.

Next up was Battle Ave. from upstate New York. Battle Ave. on Facebook name their genre as Rat Punk, Noise Bambi, and Pastoral Epic. I agree and then some. For me, noisy bands can go either way. Battle Ave. fall on the good side of the coin, and I think I know why. First, they have a great rhythm section: Samantha Niss on Drums and Max Schwartz on bass. What they also have is a unique vocalist (Jesse Alexander) and Alexander and Adam Stoutenburgh make loud noises on guitar. I hate to use fun in two straight reviews, but it fits. I just had a great time watching this band, and I wanted to hear more which is telling because the band I came out to see was up next.

After Battle Ave., I moved up closer to the stage and prepared myself to be blown away. Having absorbed The Amboys’ Led into the Wood EP and checked out some of their live performance videos, I had high expectations for this show. I was not disappointed! The band, nay, the movement called The Amboys exploded and if a typically reserved Nashville audience didn’t dance and crowd the stage as one would hope, I can guarantee that everyone who was alive in the club was moving their feet.

Look, I love The Amboys and they killed it. You get that right. As I watched the show, and yes thought about what I was going to write, I was reminded of my stated reason for writing this blog in the first place. Namely, that there is tons of great music out there and tons of music fans thirsty for great music, and the internet, for all it’s ubiquitiousness, can be a great tool, but it can also be overwhelming. So, I hear music that excites me, and I write about it, and maybe somebody reads what I write and checks out the band. Cool. So, I’m writing this not just to tell you that I had a blast at The Amboys’ show, but to implore you, if/when you get the chance, go see The Amboys – ‘kay. And if you do, and are as blown away as I think you will be, drop me a line and let me know – deal?

Epilogue: (Where the writer reveals his unhipster-like lameness): There were two other bands on the bill Goldrush and Andrew Leahey, but with a sick wife and child at home and having to get up post-daylight savings at an ungodly hour, I bowed out after introducing myself to the Amboys. I think they hung around so, ask them about those last two bands.

Here they come now…

To paraphrase The Ramones and good horror movie protocol, “I Wanna Go Down to the Basement.” The Basement in this case is the cavern-like club underneath Grimey’s New and Preloved Music. This Sunday, the fine blog, No Country for New Nashville* are hosting an show featuring several bands who are traveling on the their way to SXSW. One of the bands is former Band of the Week The Amboys. From the videos I’ve seen, their shows are a helluva lot of fun. Nashville area readers, you should definitely check this out. The show is only $5 and it starts at a work/school friendly 7:00p.m. Here are the details: SXSW Preview Show.

*Yes – as hard as it is to believe – there are other cool music blogs in Nashville.

Band of the Month – February 2012 – Polls are Open

It’s that time again. Conveniently located on the left side bar <—–left——– of the blog is a Poll which will allow you, dear reader, to vote for your favorite Band of the Week from February 2012. To help you out here is a handy dandy recap…. Enjoy!

Week 1 – Hailing from Brooklyn – The Gypsy West offer up music for the revolution:

A fun cover of Talking Heads – Life During Wartime

The Gypsy West as Talking Heads – Life During Wartime from The Gypsy West on Vimeo.

The Band’s own There are Rules

The Gypsy West – There Are Rules live @ the Bowery Electric from The Gypsy West on Vimeo.

Week 2: Leicester’s own – Citizen Smith played hard melodic rock.

The catchy Uncle Jack:

Here is an acoustic version of ‘D‘:

Week 3: We went into the woods (and we never came back) with NJ band The Amboys.

Here is Ashley Meets the Wolf:

Here is In the Woods:

Week 4 is California based The Weekend Forecast.

Here is the Dexterish I’m Done:

A Demo version of the Song Right:

You are now better informed than the average U.S citizen…. Go VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle – All Fall Down Mix

So for Christians, this is the season of Lent, and I’m hearing a lot of people talking about what they are giving up. So here at Ear to the Ground, we’ve made a decision. From now until Easter we will not post any music by Justin Bieber. It’s going to be difficult, but I guess the idea is that such sacrifice will bring us closer to God. So here we go with the first of many Bieber-free music shuffles.

First we have Streetwalker by Delta Spirit. The song comes from the band’s first EP – I Think I’ve Found It. A newer version of the sound was included on the full-length debut album Ode to Sunshine which we have linked below. We got the EP version off a no longer available Noisetrade download.

<—Delta Spirit – Ode to Sunshine LP

Next up, we have the brand new Jack White solo track Love Interruption from his forthcoming album Blunderbuss – which was also the title of a Will & the Bushmen album. Coincidence?

< Jack White – Love Interruption single

After Jack White, we got a fine rollicking country-flavored track which we got via Popa’s Tunes Popakazooza 2012 volume 2. Nikki Sue & the Bad News are yet another great New Jersey band. Here’s a link to the band’s website.

Our current Band of the Week are back with In the Woods from their Led into the Wood – seven song EP.

<The Amboys – Led into the Woods EP

And finally we have The Signal by E L E M I N T. The original version is on the Poet Tree EP.

<E L E M I N T – Poet Tree EP

We listened to the Broadcast remix of the song by our Soundcloud friend Galen Wade which you can hear here: https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F35502001 Elemint – The Signal [ Broadcast Remix by Galen Wade ] by Galen Wade

Band of the Week: Year 2, Month 3, Week 3: The Amboys

What exactly can you say about The Amboys?

Ah hell, just take a look and dance, dammit!

The Amboys – Worrisome // Live @ Asbury Lanes, NJ from Anthony Yebra on Vimeo.

The song you just fell in love with is called Worrisome and it is just one of many great ones on the band’s most recent EP – Led Into the Woods. We were first introduced to the band when Popa’s Tunes included another fine song from the EP Ashley Meets the Wolf on one of his incredible compilations. The song captured our attention and we grabbed the whole damn EP, and now we are about to go collect the whole set with includes another EP Mary Celeste and an album called Everything from the Moon to the Sun.

And yeah, in case you didn’t notice, we’re late with the Band of the Week, but you know what… well we are that’s all. To all my Nashville Readers – The Amboys are a going to be at The Basement on March 11th. Sure to be a raucous good time – come prepared to dance and sweat.

The band mixes traditional folk instrumentation, a indie-punk vibe and a wicked sense of humor. The music they make is well – listen and watch and enjoy:

The Amboys – Ashley Meets the Wolf // Live @ Asbury Lanes, NJ from Anthony Yebra on Vimeo.

Old time folk music had a dark underbelly from it’s early days. When The Violent Femmes put Country Death Song on the (imho) underrated second album – that band was adding to a long list of DARK folk murder songs. I mention that because the darkly sensual undertones of Led into the Woods brings that to mind.

I’d write more, but it’s late and all… So go Like and Follow and all that good stuff.

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle – Undead Phone Mix

Yes, here we are back with an honest to goodness, real live music shuffle after the incident which will from here on out be known as the Elevator-Eats-Phone incident….

A windy morning – foretells a not unexpected change in the weather. Also a bit of good news to begin my day – not to mention a killer music shuffle to get us back on track…

The Amboys – Ashley Meets the Wolf comes to us via the always fabulous Popa’s Tunes Popakazooza 2012 compilation. According to the band’s website they aren’t a band, but a movement. The song comes from the Led Into The Woods collection which you can download now for under $7 (just click the album cover):

And once again, I am blown away by the amazingly, diverse and wonderful sounds coming out of the Garden State.

Talk about having my initial response confirmed in spades… Build it Up is the title track from the the fabulous EP from The End Men (recent Band of the Week). I’ve already done by share of raving about the sludgy, propulsive sound of this band. Go thee to the Amazon and get the EP for under $5 – click on the album cover below:

Our current Band of the Week, Makar are up next with a track from their new album. The album is called Funeral Genius, the song is America Where Are You. Turn back to the Band of the Week post for all my faves, but I’ll just say, I haven’t heard anything by this band that I don’t love. Get Funeral Genius now:

Finally – some heavy music from a band called the Heavy Eyes. Iron Giants comes from the bands self-titled album which was released back in October. This one came our way via the forthcoming The Beyond Beyond is Beyond Psychedelic compilation (due out January 24th) by the folks at Bang Bang Boogaloo. You can grab the whole Heavy Eyes albums by clicking on the album cover below: