Local Music
Local Music
The View from Nowhere
By Alan Goldsmith
The Ann Arbor Bluestage is back. The long running Sunday night event masterminded by local blues guy Jerry Mack and the Terraplanes, which was booted by the nice folks over at the Blind Pig, has a new home thanks to the artistically smarter folks at the Arbor Brewing Company.
The weekly jam session has evolved into the focal point for the local blues music scene over the years and the new setup at ABC means this culturally important part of Ann Arbor night life will be around for years to come. A couple of changes: a new 8 pm starting time (which will make the night more user friendly for people who have to work) and a small (three-dollar) cover which means the band may even make a few bucks (and not feel like workers on the plantation...).
I never thought a brew pub (read: upscale blight on what used to be downtown Ann Arbor) would slowly turn into one of my favorite downtown bars, but with the Thursday night Al Hill and the Love Butler gigs and now with the return of the Bluestage, that's the way it is.
"Ann Arborites are encouraged to wear black light clothing." One of my favorite local singles and most criminally undiscovered 45s ever, was "Holo-gram Man" b/w "Lady Lamoona," by the equally undiscovered Mr. Largebeat. A perfect mix of spaced out intensity and killer dance beat, Mr. Largebeat musical projects over the years have been smart, dangerous and brilliant mini-epics that recall the days of early Pink Floyd and early Michigan Sixties garage-band-noise anthems. At last this single and nine other Largebeat originals have surfaced on the new CD "In His Own Little Universe" (on Flying Turtle Records) which will be celebrated with a record release party at the The Hedielberg on Saturday July 26. The new collection is PERFECT because the title lives up to the name. There's no singer/songwriter angst, there's no I-will-kill-for-a-record-deal sell outs. It's colorful postcards from Mars you can sing along with, drink tea to, watch television with the sound turned off, paint to, or just listen to and marvel at why a band this cool is so unknown (to the rest of the world).
Equally spacy and funky in it's own way is the new CD, "The Sound System Ep" by the mysterious Butterfly. The kick-off cut, "Small House," reminds me of a jazzy Rogers and Edwards of (Chic fame) production, with a to-die-for bass hook and a keyboard riff you never want to end, while "Together As Lovers" sounds like a rip of the Rick James "Super Freak" thing (sort of...) with just enough of a Prince feel to make it fresh. It's so nice to hear locals ignoring white pop for a change and feeling the influence of black pop. "Millenium Rock" is the best lovers rock reggae I've heard in a long time as Butterfly attempts to cross global as well as musical borders. And soooo danceable too. Sigh. Butterfly will be at the Top Of The Park on Thursday July 3 as well.
It's easy to miss out when you're not paying attention, but since we're talking about TOTP, one more thing to mark on your calendar is the triumphant return of missing in action Frank Allison and the Odd Socks on Friday July 11. Mr. A has been nursing a vocal cord injury/thing for several months and this date is his first in a long time, so try not to miss it.
I've known Steve Osburn, of Oz's Music fame for years, and all the while he's been fascinated by the "Stick," an electric instrument that blends the joys of technology with the beauty of a string, acoustic soul. After years of exploring and experimenting, Osburn, along with Wes Teregan and Pete Gilbert has released a new CD -- "General Chaos and Natural Order" -- under the group name Michigan Stick Trio. It's almost like listening to a tape of ocean waves crashing on the shore. With all sorts of tape-loop dubbed layers of sound, jazzy and peaceful Stick solos, delays, and synthesizers, all splashing against your ears, this is pretty close to the dream stage as you're likely to get by listening to music. This is complicated, beautiful music that deserves your attention.
Oh...a Friday afternoon on the town, bar hopping: After catching yet another happy hour set by bar band deluxe Drivin' Sideways at the Blind Pig (and thinking Chris Casello may very well be turning into the hottest guitar player in the city) I made my way over to Ypsilanti's Tap Room to scope out local legend Steve Nardella, whose local gigs are becoming more and more rare of late. While Nardella is still doing it on his wonderful Gibson guitar (blues and jazz and rockabilly with lots of passion), the highlight of the night was his intense, silly, yet respectful version of the Bobby Darin tune, "Beyond The Sea." While the Tap Room is always loads of fun...it brought up the age old question: Why aren't there MORE bars of this sort in the Paris of the Midwest? (Ann Arbor)?