Blog: Catfish Vegas presents...

Does the U.S. know what to do with these French Bastards?

Nov 10, 2011, 6:18pm Catfish Vegas presents...
The Inspector Cluzo - Fuck Bass Player
Plush welcomes The Inspector Cluzo, the self-proclaimed 'original funk 'n' roll duo'When the bass player quit, The Inspector Cluzo marched onward as a two-piece.All the advice they received said otherwise, and the precedent said otherwise, but Mathieu Jourdain and Laurent Lacrouts felt they could play funk music as a duo. With no bass."We started with a bass player, but he wasn't good enough,
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Live Review: Mates of State & Generationals

Nov 9, 2011, 6:28pm Catfish Vegas presents...
The pairing of Mates of State and Generationals guarantees hooks and harmony galore—an abundant display of how to make pop songs shine.Both bands are built around a duo and the ever-present interplay between musical counterparts. In Mates of State, it's husband-wife duo Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner, while Generationals offer Grant Widmer and Ted Joyner, a songwriting duo with a friendship
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Damn does this song rule...

Nov 8, 2011, 5:09pm Catfish Vegas presents...
Mates of State "These Days"
I'll have a full review of last night's Mates of State & Generationals show in the Tucson Weekly on Thursday, but today I have to highlight "Palomino," the first song on Mates of State's new album, Mountaintops. "Palomino" is quickly becoming one of my favorite songs of 2011, and it's an amazing video, from director Jimi Patterson:And as a bonus, Mates of State covering Jackson Browne's "These
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Mates of State with the Generationals at Plush on Monday

Nov 6, 2011, 3:30pm Catfish Vegas presents...
Eighteen seconds into "Palomino," what started as a toe-tapping song with an airy synthesizer bursts into a chorus of "oohs," and Mates of State's new album rushes off like a child at play."Palomino" is concentrated sweetness, an album and perhaps career highlight for Mates of State, a band that peddles bottled joy and sunshine.Mates of State has always been a band defined by the marriage/
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Artist:Generationals
Title:4 Trust
Link Text:Generationals - Trust
File Name:Generationals_Trust.mp3
Genre:Indie Rock
Year:2010
Artist:Mates of State
Title:Maracas
File Name:SoundCloud
Genre:Indie Rock

Review: Tom Waits - Bad As Me

Nov 4, 2011, 3:28pm Catfish Vegas presents...
Donning the mask of a fatalistic joker, Tom Waits gives 2011 its defining album, singing, stomping and wheezing in revolt against the bleak lows that mark this doomed age.A deep study of any of the 13 songs on Bad as Me would serve the same purpose, with nearly the same result: This is the soundtrack to an occupied nation, encapsulating the fear, anger and defiance coursing through a people
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Mr. Gnome at Plush tonight!

Nov 3, 2011, 6:29pm Catfish Vegas presents...
Cleveland's Mr. Gnome is band that strips down to the basics, without ever sounding stripped down. Forget the convention of the power trio, this is a power duo.Nicole Barille on vocals and guitar and Sam Meister on drums, occasional piano and back-up vocals - that's it. Just as bombastic as the White Stripes, just as enigmatic as Wye Oak and just as crafty as the Black Keys, Mr. Gnome plays music
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Review: We Were Promised Jetpacks - In the Pit of the Stomach

Oct 20, 2011, 3:34pm Catfish Vegas presents...
As localized music scenes capture broader attention, the boundaries blur between the bands that count among the influential originals, and those that are mere copycats.In the Scottish scene—which is making waves on England's Fat Cat Records—the tendency for young bands making names for themselves is to make a sophomore album that's bigger, bolder and louder than the debut. It's a sure way
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Riding Out the Storm - Crooked Fingers

Oct 14, 2011, 8:24pm Catfish Vegas presents...
To wear armor at all is to need protection, to fear wounds beyond what the body can sustain. So when that armor begins to fail, the resulting vulnerability is so much worse than an unguarded safety. On his sixth album under the Crooked Fingers name, Eric Bachmann takes a songwriting trip into a state of such startling vulnerability that it's hard to count all the wounds contained in its 11
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Artist:Crooked Fingers
Title:Angelina
Link Text:Crooked Fingers - Angelina
File Name:Angelina.mp3
Bitrate:80 kbps
Genre:Rock
Year:2002

The War On Drugs play Plush Oct. 20

Oct 14, 2011, 2:40pm Catfish Vegas presents...
The War on Drugs' Adam Granduciel makes big music by starting with little snippetsAdam Granduciel describes his home studio as a playground for haphazard things.In his tinkerer's shop, with a minimalist analog setup, Granduciel labors to create an ethereal batch of sounds, experimenting with combinations. It's only after he's accumulated a solid bed of sounds, often from mere snippets, that
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Artist:The War on Drugs
Title:Baby Missiles
Link Text:The War On Drugs - Baby Missiles
File Name:babymissiles.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Genre:Rock
Year:2011
Artist:The War on Drugs
Title:Come to the City
Link Text:The War On Drugs - Come To The City
File Name:cometothecity.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Genre:Rock
Year:2011

Reviwe: Lindsey Buckingham - Seeds We Sow

Oct 13, 2011, 2:45pm Catfish Vegas presents...
Sounding reflective and emotionally raw, Lindsey Buckingham takes a bigger turn toward folk music on his latest solo effort.The album leads off with its strongest song, the title track, which is a gorgeous showcase for Buckingham's signature voice and virtuoso guitar style. Fast picking and a mournful wail blend together into a song as powerful as anything he's sung in the past.Though
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Review: Blitzen Trapper - American Goldwing

Oct 12, 2011, 3:47pm Catfish Vegas presents...
Paring down some of the band's more-unhinged tendencies, Blitzen Trapper look backward on American Goldwing, an album about growing up that sounds like the music that guided those formative years.Often writing distinctly about his past, his upbringing and those distinctly rural characters of a generation-ago America, Eric Earley has hit a rich vein lyrically, writing with a rustic sincerity,
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Artist:Blitzen Trapper
Title:Love the Way You Walk Away
Link Text:Blitzen Trapper - Love the Way You Walk Away
File Name:10080.mp3
Year:2011

Cymbals Eat Guitars at Congress on Tuesday

Sep 30, 2011, 1:29pm Catfish Vegas presents...
Tucson's ...music video? - with an excellent 2011 release on the heels of last year's Fort Lowell Records 7inch - open an excellent show on Tuesday night at Club Congress. Headlining are New York's Cymbals Eat Guitars. Below is my Tucson Weekly interview with the band:Cymbals Eat Guitars were eager to change things up for their much-anticipated sophomore releaseOpening a second album with a
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Artist:Cymbals Eat Guitars
Title:Definite Darkness
Link Text:Cymbals Eat Guitars - Definite Darkness
File Name:oakh0fhdkhgkq8d4stys.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps

Rad25

Sep 29, 2011, 8:54am Catfish Vegas presents...
Growing up, Rad was my favorite movie. It still is. So when I heard about the 25th anniversary celebration was scheduled for this August in Calgary, I had to go. I did, and subsequently wrote thousands of words about the extraordinary weekend, the film's strange and inspiring afterlife and the subculture it came to represent:I pedaled leisurely rather than furiously, making no quick turns,
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Review: St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

Sep 28, 2011, 8:28pm Catfish Vegas presents...
Annie Clark's music is a beautiful hybrid of folk, electronica and art rock—a tough combination to get right. But the multi-instrumentalist with the haunting voice has made waves with her pristine execution on Marry Me and Actor, two acclaimed albums that actually lose some luster in comparison to the new Strange Mercy.Clark drops the veil slightly to bring more passion and intensity to her
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Friday's songs

Sep 9, 2011, 3:23pm Catfish Vegas presents...
The War On Drugs - "Baby Missiles" (Official Video)
No text
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Review: Fruit Bats - Tripper

Sep 7, 2011, 6:34pm Catfish Vegas presents...
Over the course of a decade, the Fruit Bats have quietly been dancing in and out of trends carried by fellow Sub Pop bands that have garnered much more attention. Folky, sunny, poppy and now slightly more psychedelic, the lineup-shifting band led by Eric D. Johnson has never jumped into the spotlight, but has asserted itself with quality albums.Working with producer Thom Monahan on the heels
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Artist:Fruit Bats
Title:Tangie and Ray
Link Text:Fruit Bats - Tangie and Ray
File Name:9788.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:2011

Review: Fountains of Wayne - Sky Full of Holes

Sep 1, 2011, 5:59pm Catfish Vegas presents...
Fountains of Wayne songwriters Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger are masters at peppering their songs with all sorts of slice-of-life details, and on Sky Full of Holes, the duo is sharper than ever at using those mundane observations to draw out a gallery full of familiar emotions.Fountains of Wayne's fifth album opens with the line: "She's been afraid of the Cuisinart since 1977,"
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Introducing... Dead Western Plains

Sep 1, 2011, 2:18pm Catfish Vegas presents...
Dead Western Plains refuse to get 'stuck' The colorful, shifting soundscapes of Dead Western Plains' songs are the fortunate result of what Johnnie Munger calls "too many cooks in the kitchen."The five members of Dead Western Plains piece together sounds like collage artists, with each musician adding his own distinct style and personality, until a song reaches its rich and layered
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Artist:Dead Western Plains
Link Text:Dead Western Plains - People Beat
File Name:01 People Beat.mp3
Year:2011
Artist:Dead Western Plains
Title:Alta
Link Text:Dead Western Plains - Alta
File Name:01 Alta.mp3
Year:2010

Outside Lands Festival - Interstitial Overdrive

Aug 25, 2011, 2:12pm Catfish Vegas presents...
A three-day music festival like Outside Lands is hectic and exhausting no matter how you approach it. So, I try to pare down the wish list, not rush from stage to stage to see every single band I'm interested in, and let the festival vibe take care of whatever other decisions need to be made. Recapping the experience without running over the itinerary isn't much easier. But paying attention
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New Tom Waits!

Aug 23, 2011, 6:30pm Catfish Vegas presents...
Tom Waits' Private Listening Party
"What if you had a root canal and I asked you to gargle with raw sewage, would you be OK with that? Would it be safe to jump rope with a live electrical wire?"
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