By Noah W. Bailey
Picking the best folk and Americana records of the year isn't nearly as hard as discarding those great records that just didn't feel right stuck in the category.
Releases by Calexico and DeVotchKa felt far too worldly to pigeonhole as folk or country, for instance, while Blitzen Trapper's fantastic Furr smells more like the Kinks than Neil Young. [Editor's note: That's why we put it on our indie-rock list.] We likewise discarded Shearwater's near-masterpiece Rook, despite the
Do you like Arcade Fire? How about Gogol Bordello? Sure you do! So why not check out DeVotchKa's show at The Clubhouse tonight?Cuz here's the thing: As The Village Voice has pointed out, DeVotchKa was those bands before those bands were those bands. It sounds ridiculous to say an act is proto-gypsy rock, but that's exactly what this Denver foursome is. They do pretty well poster-wise, too.
Joshua James is scheduled to perform on Sunday at Modified Arts.
Things are changing up just a bit for this edition of the weekend concert calendar. We're going to start including Thursday in our weekly roundup, if for no other reason than there seems to be a number of big and boss shows that are happening on Thump Day. (Besides, Thursdays is the new Friday, ya dig?)
And tonight is no exception, especially over in Tempe: the scintillating gypsy-meets-indie act DeVotchKa will be at the Club
Mathew Ward and Zooey Deschanel (a.k.a. She & Him).
We fully admit to our jealousy of Mathew Ward.
Not only does the Portland guitarist have an obscene amount of talent (which he's demonstrated much over the past decade on seven separate full-length albums), Ward's collaborated musically with such indie all-stars as Cat Power, Bright Eyes, and Yo La Tengo. The dude (who performs as M. Ward) even got to perform on Letterman last night.
Plus, he's best friends with the gorgeous Zooey Descha
Austin City Limits: recycling this year's festival headliners so you don't have to The lineup for the 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival has been announced and it is teeming with top-notch talent. The Beastie Boys, Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews Band round out the top slots of Outside Lands Lollapalooza this year's edition of the ACL, adding Kings of Leon, Theivery Corporation and Ben Harper to the big name mix. While I commend ACL for sticking to younger acts, at least by Coachella's standards
