Vicky's pick

My pick this week is the Seattle band Central Services. Their music ranges from laid-back indie pop to a harder, alternative rock sound.

I liked the band because of the layers in their songs. As well as a tight main melody, the music usually includes counter-melodies and variations in texture. The song I picked, “Get to You,” is one of their more rocking tracks.

The band stars songwriters Kevin Emerson on vocals and stand-up drums, Jeff Blancato on lead guitar, keyboardist Eric Goetz, bassist Mark Livingston and rhythm guitarist Ethan Jones. Emerson and Jones play together in another indie pop band, The Math and Physics Club, who recently released a full-length album with Matinee Records.

Go to the Open Mic page to read more! http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6468392

Method Man in D.C.

Last Thursday I saw the legendary Method Man with Inspectah Deck, Mastah Killa and a host of Wu affiliates at the 9:30 club on V St. N.W. This was the third or fourth hip-hop show that I’ve caught at the venue and to be honest, I had some reservations about the $25 cover charge. I’m a fairly seasoned vet when it comes to live hip-hop. My experience has been that the only way to pull it off is to totally and absolutely transfer the stage energy to the audience. There is little live instrumentation in the traditional sense. Two turntables make up the entire rhythm section, so to get the crowd hyped the emcee really has to bring some stage presence. When done right there is no better live music to see; when done wrong, you wonder why you even listen to hip-hop in the first place.

So back to the Method Man show. He is currently on tour to promote his newest release 421: The Day After. I must say it’s a strong album, and there are very few mainstream hip-hop albums released this millennium that I would call ‘strong.’ What can I say; I’m not a huge fan of the synth-dominated dirty south movement that has dominated the radio waves for the last few years. I like the raw, boom-bap, sample-based beats of yesteryear (See: the RZA). And 421 brings back the boom-bap. Well, at least parts of it do.

So with high hopes I entered the club at 10 P.M. After making my way to the bar for a $5 Budweiser (on an intern’s budget…ouch) I reserved my little plot of standing room a few rows back from the stage. The opening act sounded pretty horrible and should never be allowed to grip microphones again. Luckily they did their thing quickly and got the hell off the stage (no offense, fellas). Next up was Mastah Killa. He did a few songs to get the crowd warmed up then turned the mic over to Inspectah Deck, who is actually one of my favorite members of the Wu. Deck did a decent job of building some momentum for the headliner, which seemed to be his goal. He definitely wasn’t out to steal the show.

As Deck’s set came to an end you could sense the crowd (which by this point was beginning to fill out nicely) start to buzz. Suddenly a chant of “MAKE MARIJUANA LEGAL! MAKE MARIJUANA LEGAL!” poured through the speakers. The beat drop and Method Man entered stage left. The energy level instantly quadrupled. He spit the intro verse to his newest album with intensity and the crowd erupted. I was pleasantly surprised. It’s good to see a guy have the same gusto for live performance 15 years into his career. As with any live show, the energy hit peaks and valleys. Strikes and gutters. However you want to say it, Meth put a ton of force into bringing the energy levels up when needed. And the crowd had no choice but to respond. Meth put his physical well-being on the line for the sake of crowd participation. The dude must have stage-dived at least four times (which was funny, although I’m not sure how I feel about being covered in sweaty rapper) and even used the crowd’s hands to walk and stand on. That was something I had never seen before.

At some point the pungent odor of pot smoke became apparent to my sensitive nostrils. If you’ve listened to Method Man before it shouldn’t come as any real surprise that 1) respecting laws and authority figures is not his forte and 2) the dude smokes copious amounts of weed. Now I’m not the type to either condone or impede the use of illegal substances amongst total strangers. Color me indifferent. But it let me know that this was Meth’s show, Meth’s crowd, and for the hour and a half he was on-stage, Meth’s 9:30 Club. At that exact moment and that precise time he was the authority.

At the end Mastah Killa and Inspectah Deck came back to join Meth and they kicked their verses from the classic ‘Triumph’ (which if you don’t know you undoubtedly better ask somebody). What impressed me most was Meth’s dedication to the crowd. On more than one occasion he let us know we paid a boatload of hard-earned money to see him and it was his job to entertain— a job that he took very seriously. In a time of self-serving musicians in both the underground and mainstream of all genres it was refreshing to hear this. He was also adamant about the current state of the music industry. His overall message was that in this era of internet and i-pods, the consumer has more control over the music than ever. Tune out the garbage on the radio (HEY! WHOA! Deep breaths, I’m pretty sure he was talking about commercial radio) and stop letting the record companies dictate what sells. I left in a very good mood and once-again reminded of the reason that I am such a rap nerd.

-Rob Charnley, Performance Today

Vicky's Pick

The band Taigaa! is my pick of picks from this week’s Open Mic.

Inspired by a variety of genres – Experimental Pop, pre-80's Korean Pop, Gypsy, Punk, Rock, Goth, Mexican Folk, and Middle Eastern Pop – their sound is hard to pinpoint.

When I first listened to them, I had this take on their music:

Hard-driving, straight-forward vocals and instrumentation reflect their punk side and remind me of some New Wave bands. They also have more whimsical elements in their lyrics and performance that reveal their pop influences.

In the band, Fantastico Pirato sings, K.O.K.O plays keyboard and violin and Dusty Gold handles drums.

They stuck out to me because of their originality. I haven’t really heard a band quite like them. Also, I’m in love with Dusty Gold’s drumming style.

Check out the Open Mic site to learn more about them! http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6458158

Also, they have a video of another of their songs, “Deep Moustache Forest.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCE9LVtzTOs

Vicky's Pick

Hello! I’m Vicky Markovitz, the All Songs Considered Intern. I put together the Open Mic page for All Songs, which features unsigned and independent artists. Each week, I’m going to put up my favorite of all the favorites I picked, or some artist that stood out to me in some way. So… here’s this week’s pick, Rising Appalachia.

Rising Appalachia includes sisters Leah and Chloe Smith and percussionist Forrest Kelly. Despite being incredibly jealous of them, because they are touring Europe right now and called me from Ireland, I enjoy their twist on traditional Appalachian music. They don’t stray too far from old tunes, but enhance the songs with sisterly harmonies and an energetic, plucked string sound adorned with the twang of a fiddle and occasional horns.

I picked their track "Say Darlin’ Say" because I vaguely knew the tune and liked being able to hear the personal touches in their version. The fact that Leah and Chloe knew the song because their father used to sing it to them as a lullaby also made it too adorable to turn down.

Another track of theirs I really liked, but isn’t on their Open Mic page, is "Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss," which includes trumpet. I’m a sucker for horns. You can listen to a snippet of it on their website.

Both the songs are off their self-titled album.

Here is the link to their Open Mic page if you want to check them out for yourself! http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6394253

Let me know what you think!