If you think there’s something about Harper Simon’s voice that sounds all too familiar, it’s not just you. Harper’s vocals and folk stylings definitely follow closely in the footsteps of his father, Paul Simon. Also similar to his fathers style would be the new music video for “Berkeley Girl” – a piece shot on 8 mm seeping golden light in pure 1970′s film fashion.
Directed by Benjamin Kutsko from LA-based film collective/production company The Masses (Devendra Banhart, Passion Pit, Beach House, Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros), the video stars actress/musician Jena Malone (Into the Wild, Pride & Prejudice, Donny Darko) with a cameo by singer/songwriter Henry Wolfe.
So many great shows are hitting the Lake Eerie shores this month. Here’s Dust Sleeve’s picks for all the must see action from Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice to Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and Matt and Kim!
Friday, Sept. 3 Polka Happy Hour with DJ Kishka Happy Dog
The first Friday in Sept. will be the last Polka Happy Hour for the summer at the Happy Dog in Gordon Square. Enjoy one of the most entertaining DJ’s in town spinning a foot stomping mix of Polka classics.
Saturday, Sept. 4 Paleface + The Lighthouse & The Whaler Beachland Tavern
Longtime singer-songwriter and influential member of the anti-folk music persuasion Paleface is sure to put on an intimate show at the tavern. Local folksters Lighthouse and the Whaler open, and they’re too good to miss.
Check out the fourth annual DIT Fest – a two day punk and poetry music festival at various venues around Kent State. Expect the major favorites from the rustbelt DIY community and a positive environment.
Come celebrate one year in business for Ohio City’s bicycle bar Cranky’s. Bands will be playing all day and I’m sure the grill and the atmosphere will be hot. One of the best patio’s in town!
Sunday, Sept. 12 Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin + Telekinesis Grog Shop
Fresh off the release of Let It Sway, SSLYBY bring a huge indie match-up to the stage with Telekinesis. An indie-pop showdown in Coventry well worth your Sunday attention.
It’s hard not to be infatuated with siren singer Jenny Lewis, which makes any indie outfit she’s currently touring under – be it Rilo Kiley, solo, or now with her boyfriend Johnthan Rice – 100% worth your money.
Known for goofy music videos and an energetic live show, indie-pop couple Matt and Kim will definitely bring the fun. Get there early because every pre-show is a listening party of their new album Sidewalks, out in November.
Folk legend Ramblin’ Jack Elliot is rolling through Cleveland with a stop at the Beachland Tavern. The perfect intimate setting for this acoustic singer-songwriter makes this is an absolute must see in my book.
Cutesy Canadian trio Land of Talk will play a set at the Tavern in support of their recent release, Cloak and Cipher, touted as one of the year favorites at nearby Music Saves. Fellow Canadians and art-rockers Suuns join them.
Those darlins are a female-fronted trio out of Tennessee making vintage flavored rock that’s catchy and fun. This time around fellow TN rockers Turbo Fruits will join them at their Tavern housed show.
Tuesday, Sept. 21 Best Coast + Male Bonding Grog Shop
Competing for your Tuesday night attention is one of the most hyped newcomers of 2010, the surf-y lo-fi Best Coast. Fans of their garage sound might be interested to see how Bethany Cosentino will hold up live alongside Male Bonding.
On tour supporting his new Number Zero With A Bullet, Dave Dondero stops by the Tavern. If you missed him at WMC Fest, be sure this time you check out one of the most under-appreciated singer-songwriters out there.
Thursday, Sept. 23 Hotchacha Release Party + We Are Hex Now That’s Class
Local female foursome Hotchacha just released their newest effort on Exit Stencil Recordings, and what better way to celebrate than making lots of noise at your favorite punk bar, Now That’s Class? We Are Hex join them.
The Quest For Glory Tour returns with three of your favorite female singer-songwriters. Darlings of twitter and the like, expect a lot of cute / rockin fun out of NY based Allison Weiss, Bess Rogers, and Lelia Broussard.
What better way to close out the month than with an appearance from the woman responsible for one of the best albums of 2010? It’s Laura Veirs! Joined by the Watson Twins, this show’s gonna knock the tavern off its heels.
Jenny Lewis is an evolving musical kaleidoscope. The ingredients are always the same, and everything sure is pretty, but the final products tend to differ in surprising ways. This is evident in the many faces of Rilo Kiley, her solo material and now this duet LP with boy toy Johnathan Rice. This lighthearted and jangly rock n’ roll won’t upend your world like some of Jenny’s songwriting can, but it’s as easy on the ears as she is on the eyes.
Speaking of co-ed couple album team ups, this week brings us number four from Deb Talan and Steven Tannen – more commonly known as the Weepies. Though I’ve yet to hear anything from them that tops their sophomore effort Say I Am You, the Weepies continue to carve out their beautiful world in soft-spoken and sweet folk pop.
People/Variables is the debut full-length from Clean Equations, the Michael Nyhan fronted outfit anchored in Philly. Featuring the strings of the Astoriadelphia Orchestra, this ten track release is a delightful layering of instrumentation and noise. Sample a track from this week’s release below.
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Also Out This Week
Brackles – Songs for Endless Cities
Carl Broemel - All Birds
From a Fountain - Shale & Sandstone
Goo Goo Dolls – Something For The Rest Of Us
Grinderman – “Heathen Child” single
Oneohtrix Point Never – “Returnal” single
Phil Selway – Familial
Richard Thompson – Dream Attic
Terrible Things – Terrible Things
Telekinesis – Dirty Thing EP [digital release]
Various Artists – Total 11
The Schedule is live for this years DIT Fest IV, a DIY punk and poetry festival in Kent, Ohio. This two-day long event features a slew of great local and nearby rustbelt talent, positive energy, and lots of fun in one of Ohio’s favorite cities. Fore more information go here, here, or here. And be sure to bring non-parishable food items and toiletries for donations to charities affiliated with the Vineyard (venue).
Sufjan is back baby. Give up your grieving for the folksy and creative 50 states project and welcome with open arms the experimental and arguably more creative new era of Sufjan that he’s been teasing us with over the past few years with “We Are The Blood”, new live material, and The BQE. Just a little something to hold us over until The Age of Adz drops October 12, if you can believe it.
It seems to me that the newly NYC relocated Allison Weiss never sleeps. If she isn’t planning tours or designing websites she’s constantly promoting herself and wetting our whistles with new material – like this silly music video for Was Right All Along standout “Fingers Crossed”. Clevelanders can check her out with Bess Rogers Sept. 27 at Wilberts.
I’ve been really digging the music coming out of Wonder Beard Tapes lately, and this months release by Hooray! is no exception. The ten track cassette Bedroom Adventures is available digitally on Hooray!’s BandCamp, where he’s also posted a number of other EP’s.
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There’s not too much information out there on Hooray!, aside from it being a solo project from Ben Wagner who has a pretty great music blog, Ice Cream Dreams. What I do know is what I can hear on the tracks he’s created so far, which are playful and experimental with a variety of influences that seem to fit into the dream-pop, chillwave arena. These kind of ambient tinkerings are usually hit or miss for me – but there’s an accessibility to Hooray!’s sound that’s easy to enjoy.
!!! (pronounced “Chk Chk Chk”) are dance punk machines out of California dropping their fourth LP Strange Weather, Isn’t It? on Warp this week. After I caught their hyper-energetic live show a few years ago at Lolla I swore that they could do no wrong by me – and I was definitely right. Expect danceworthy fun at every turn on this one.
Canadian trio Land of Talk are getting plenty of buzz over their sophomore release Cloak and Cipher, an album written while front-woman Elizabeth Powell was recovering from a hemorrhaged vocal polyp. In typical Canadian indie form, there are a slew of guest appearances – from the likes of Arcade Fire, Silver Mount Zion, The Besnard Lakes, and Stars.
Indianapolis’ Abner Trio are back with their sophomore effort The Giant Crushes You, released on drummer Karl Hofstetter’s label Joyful Noise Recordings. This record is four years in the making, a length that can be attributed to the groups meticulous recording – a careful creativity that has paid off in a big way for the trio here.
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Abe Vigoda – “Throwing Shade” b/w “Vivid” 7”
James Blackshaw – All Is Falling
Back Ted N-Ted – The Mirror
Bad City – Welcome to the Wasteland
Brad Laner – Natural Selections
Brian Wilson – Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin
Ciara – Basic Instinct
Cotton Jones – Tall Hours in the Glowstream Read more…
Ah, there’s nothing like a creepy doll video to make your Wednesday better, is there? Although slightly disturbing, the new video from The Twilight Sad set to “The Wrong Car” is cinematic and visually impressive. The dull color tones and dark shadowing are a great accompaniment to the track.
Dorena are a Swedish five-piece on one of my favorite independent labels, Deep Elm. After skimming through a few tracks from their new sophomore album, About Everything and More I was blown away – this is some gorgeous music for a group of 21 year olds out of Gothenburg to be making.
With predominantly ambient tracks floating between six and eight minutes, there’s an anthematic and minimal structure to their arrangements. With enough variety between songs to hold your interest, I expect these guys will be around for a bit.
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I was interested to read some background information on the themes of the album from guitarist Kim Ruiz, where he said “These recordings came together during a period of time when all of us were standing right at the border between teenage life and adulthood. This album is a representation of that significant moment in our lives and the feelings of insecurity, love, loneliness and hope that come along with it”.
Dust Sleeve is a CLE-based music blog, dedicated to two things: 1. good music and 2. cleaning up Cleveland's reputation as the mistake on the lake. You can help. dustsleeve[at]gmail.com.
Friday, Sept. 3
Saturday, Sept. 4
Fri – Sat, Sept. 10-11
Saturday, Sept. 11
Sunday, Sept. 12
Tuesday, Sept. 14
Thursday, Sept. 16
Saturday, Sept. 18
Sunday, Sept. 19
Tuesday, Sept. 21
Tuesday, Sept. 21
Monday, Sept. 22
Thursday, Sept. 23
Monday, Sept. 27
Tuesday, Sept. 28
The Schedule is live for this years DIT Fest IV, a DIY punk and poetry festival in Kent, Ohio. This two-day long event features a slew of great local and nearby rustbelt talent, positive energy, and lots of fun in one of Ohio’s favorite cities. Fore more information go 
