War Machine's 2009 Summer 5

I just got 95% of the way through this post only to accidentally lose it, so I'm going to begrudgingly try it again. It's going to be shorter this time, though.

Apologies for not embedding the video. Keep up the good work, those that do, it makes it so much easier to decide for myself when I can just click a button and listen. I'd do it too, but I don't know how. Links will have to suffice. [Update: videos added]

"Sleepyhead" - Passion Pit

Passion Pit is on every one's list this summer, so no new ground here. But this song is a standard deviation better than every other song on the album, and there are some other great ones. Video rocks too.

Here's a thought. Most of us have heard the story where Michael Angelakos, who was not in any band at the time, made a Valentines Day CD of six songs for his college girlfriend. (Not a shitty mixtape, mind you, his songs.) The songs got passed around campus, picked up locally, they turned it into an EP and formed a band and turned the EP into an album and here we are. Sleepyhead, as I understand it, was on that first CD. Here's my question, did that song on the CD sound like the song as I hear it on "Manners?" Because if it did...holy shit! Can you imagine being that girl? Or even, being the dorm room roommate of that girl? I suspect, on that particular Valentines Day, there wasn't a whole lot of sleepy, but a hell of a lot of...well you get it.

I'm just saying she owed him. Big time.



"Nothing to Worry About" - Peter, Bjorn and John

This song is a little long in the tooth but I just discovered it. It makes me want to dance until my ass falls off...or until two minutes and 58 seconds are over. Whichever comes first.

I've got to get me to Sweden at some point. There's too much coming out of there right now that I love...except for the IKEA tool. I hate the IKEA tool.



"Arlington. The Rap."

You don't really have to have lived in Arlington, VA to understand this. It makes it funnier, but it's not required. Could have just as easily been Annaheim or Schaumburg. Except for the Green Line joke.

I can't believe I lived there for 5 years. Sigh.



"Gifted" - N.A.S.A. (Featuring Kanye West, Santogold and Lykke Li)

Look at that lineup. Do I have to even explain why the song is awesome? The best part is, it is awesome, as opposed to, say, "The Best of Both Worlds."Decidedly not awesome.



"My Girls" - Animal Collective

This is as catchy an Animal Collective song as I am aware of. And I love catchy. The album is pretty great too. Very accessible, which means I can like it. Close runner-up is the Camera Obscura song French Navy, another great song off an album I'm loving.

Femi Kuti @ 9:30 Club

I should start off by saying that I danced the entire show and that was after a long day that started with a West-East redeye, included a BBQ festival, three DC gogo bands (check out Mambo Sauce's "Welcome To DC"), plenty of beer, and a stop at a bar for a coffee, a water and two shots of Jamison. Following in his father's famous footsteps, Femi Kuti led the crowd through a boisterous set funky afrobeat. Although I was kind surprised I was still standing, I was swept up by the stage full of dancers, percussionists and horn players. However, for most of the show DC was it usual rigid self. Never known for its liveliness, it was still surprising how long the diverse crowd could resist the seductive shake of international dance music. As great as the performance was, the show fizzled out at the end as Femi rambled on about the virtues of tantric sex. Still a must see if you get the chance.

George Clinton @ 9:30 Club

This was my first George Clinton and the whatever-he's-calling -his-band-today show. I expected it to be awesome. It was exactly what I expected it to be. In short, a three hour funkfest that left my feet and back so sore I could hardly walk after.

For those who don't know: the Parliament Funkadelic is made up of about 30 or so people. It's a huge party on stage. It's a huge party in the crowd. I was surprised to learn that there would be no opening act, until I figured out why, they played for over three hours with no break (rotating performers in and out so as not to exhaust themselves), and George himself (the guy in the red hair in my blurry photo) didn't take the stage until 40 minutes into the show. He was on stage for about an hour. Took 30 minutes off. Then closed the show.

Some quick observations:

-You probably know that Starchild wears a diaper on stage. What you probably don't know is that Starchild has the most spectacular outie belly button I've ever seen. It was the size of a quarter. He's also a dead-ringer for John Witherspoon.

-Starchild's arch nemesis is Sir Nose Devoid of Funk. I didn't know who that was but I had to google it after the show. Basically, he was some guy dressed like a pimp who just struts around the stage and does handstands. Also, he has amazing abs.

-George Clinton is starting to pack on the lbs. At this point, he reminds me of my uncle Phil, but black. And with multicolored dreads.

-Before the show, I noticed a dreaded gentleman in a brightly colored jacket hanging around the entrance. I later identified this man on stage singing back up vocals amongst the three female backup singers, which I found odd. Later, during Atomic Dog, he grabbed the microphone and started rapping, to which I thought, this guy has GOT to be George Clinton's son. I also thought, this guy is totally taking a dump all over George Clinton's classic. Then George Clinton joined in the rap. Ye gods! Clinton later confirmed my belief saying, "that was my son y'all."

-Later, during one of Starchild's breaks, and about halfway through a song, George Clinton's son pick up Starchild's guitar and started playing, which surprised me, because, you know, he waited until three-fourths of the way through the show to transition from backup singer and Atomic-Dog ruiner to guitarist. Only, he was holding the guitar upside down. Maybe he is Jimmy Hendrix and only elected to entertain us with his stylings for three minutes. Or maybe he was pretending to play daddy's friend's guitar to pass the time because he was bored, which is cool, except that he was at least 22 years old.

-One final note on this guy, somebody passed Old George a joint toward the end of the set. He smoked a couple of hits, then the proud pappa handed it to his son, who took a spectacular drag to kill it. The most impressive thing he did all night.

So I sound like a hater, which isn't fair. I had a blast. An absolute blast. One of the best live shows you are going to see. They played non-stop for three hours, and they weren't going to stop. The 9:30 club turned on the audience lights around 12:30. They didn't stop. They cut the mics around 1:00 a.m. They didn't stop. George mouthed the lyrics to his songs to the crowd, compelling them to chant them while the band kept playing.

Finally, the crowd just tired and the band sort of whimpered out. I was pretty fine with that. I was sweaty. I was exhausted. I'm pretty sure I smelled worse than Starchild's diaper.

No, no I didn't.

Fleet Foxes @ The Black Cat

A good friend and I are both leaving DC soon. This concert was kind of our farewell to one of our favorite venues - a band we liked, playing a sold out show - it was a perfect night. Unfortunately, like many of my friends, he's an idiot. Although he's 32, he let his drivers license expire two days ago, and when they checked IDs at the door they gave him two big black straight edge X's. Apparently, in his infinite wisdom, when he went to the bathroom he decided that it would be a good idea to wash them off and then go buy us beers before actually going upstairs into the show. And then of course, because he is not as clever as he was when he actually was underage, he got kicked out. At least he had time to buy me a beer.

Here's the review: They sound even better live - more impressive, immediate, and a lot louder. Seriously, go against your instinct and turn their album up loud. The songs sounded amazing. The Dutchess and the Duke were also great. The packed crowd was enthusiastic and I couldn't stop laughing to myself the entire show. NPR was taping it so you don't have to take my word for it.

The Annuals @ Iota

The Hymns rocked the small stage with their country-tinged garage/roots rock and got the crowd warmed up. What they may have lacked in sonic creativity they made up for with sweat - a great band for a bar. The Annuals followed, pulling sounds from all over indie rock history, from hand claps and harmonies to discordant guitars and screaming. The music consistently sounded great, sprinkled with tempo changes and rhythmic breakdowns, although the vocals were sometimes a bit rough. Their best songs were their poppiest. Overall, it was a lot fun, even if some of the little details that made their album great were lost when they rocked out.