I believe there is an unwritten rule about limiting the number of exclamation points in a given article to no more than 3. Well, fuck that! We’re too excited at missionfreak to follow rules, let alone unwritten rules!
Tomorrow night, Wednesday, August 13th marks the return of Iowa City’s favorite hot dog-hurling trio: The Tanks!
It’s been a long nine months. I know I haven’t had nearly enough sweaty, bald men rub their sweaty, bald heads on me lately, nor have I gotten my projectile hot dog fix, and I doubt many of you have been sated on either of those two fronts either. However, don’t expect more the same this time ’round, the trio comes fitted with new tunes and a “new surprise drummer.” In other words, you’d better prepare by listening to those new jams (peep the tankspace: here), because they ain’t given the name of that drummer no way, no how.
This super secret surprise gets better still with the inclusion of Baltimore’s Teeth Mountain. Scope out their delicious tribal drone here.
The surprises don’t end there either! There will be more acts announced at tomorrow night’s show!
So get thee to 109 N. Dodge St tomorrow night at 9:30 pm. Normal house show rules apply: BYOB, donations are strongly advised, and don’t wreck-up the place.
Archive for the 'WTF?' Category
Thursday
The Monads, The Mayflies, Illinois John Fever - The Mill
Fight the Flood
Friday
Drakkar Sauna w. Driver of the Year, the Botticellis - Capitol Theatre in Davenport
Fight the Flood
Saturday
Stay Dry
Fight the Flood
If there’s one thing that’ll get me writing a Sunday morning post it’s a new Alanis Morissette album. I’m not kidding here; Jagged Little Pill (1995) is one of the few albums, like Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1983), to move 30 million units and still be awesome. While Googling around this morning I found out that a new Alanis record, Flavors of Entanglement (wtf is up with that title?), comes out June 10th and features Guy Sigsworth at the helm. How did I not know this? Sigsworth is one of my favorite producers, getting his start on Seal’s “Crazy” (an undeniably great song), working with Bjork, being a member of Zach Braff darlings Frou Frou, and programming strange, really dramatic, quasi-religious songs for Lamb. It’s an interesting, though not necessarily mind-blowing career. His work often eschews innovation in favor of listenability, which makes complete sense given the kind of artists he works with (ed note: Bjork? Listenable?). Sigsworth is at his best is when wrapping great vocalists (Seal, Bjork, Imogen Heap) in a more interesting sonic space that doesn’t threaten to steal the spotlight. In this way I think much of Sigsworth’s work can be seen alongside the brilliant production that William Orbit did for Beth Orton and what Ben Watt did for Tracey Thorn in Everything but the Girl…
If you missed the Blacks’ show in Iowa City this past spring perhaps this video will give you an idea of you what you would have seen: a normal enough guitar / drums duo enhanced by a well-dressed man-beast who gives new meaning (and respect) to playing the tambourine. His name is JDK Blacker and during the band’s recent NYC run, he allegedly distributed 100 tambourines to the audience. The idea was to get them to release their inner-tambourinists and play along with the band. It all sounds very Merry Prankster or Ken Kesey-ish but apparently it was a blast. This so-called “Tambourine Experiment” carried over a three-night residency at Pianos on the Lower East Side and a one-off at Brooklyn’s Union Pool. Some audience videographer caught the band playing at Pianos and it gets real cool when he turns the lens on the crowd. The experiment is currently making its way to San Francisco. Makes us wonder: when will it hit Iowa City?
The Tambourine Experiment at Pianos (NYC) Video
and…
Iowa City is home to one of the best eccentric pop songwriters in these United States. His name is Sam Locke-Ward and the obvious musical reference point would be Daniel Johnston, which is slightly misleading since Sam isn’t crazy — he’s viciously smart and well put together — though he does share an undeniable link to Johnston in his penchant for quirky and endearing pop. Sam, who seems to change the lineup of his band for each gig, put together an eleven piece ensemble called the Sam Locke-Ward Big Band for his support slot on the Bon Iver show that happened during the Mission Creek Festival. Despite some hateful live sound engineering — just listen to that vocal microphone cutting out every 30 seconds or so — this band blasted the house. A lot of people had a WTF? look on their faces which, given the fact that it was a Bon Iver show, they probably weren’t expecting a quirk-pop orchestra; heck, they probably weren’t even expecting Bon Iver to rock as hard as he did. We at the Freak will continue to pour Sam’s pop genius down your throats until you get it and one day, dear friend, you will get it. Until then, scratch your head on this live recording of the Sam Locke-Ward Big Band gig from the Mission Creek Festival. Thanks to www.cornwarning. for posting this.
Sam Locke-Ward Big Band (live at Mission Creek Festival ‘08)
Being Mission Freak’s resident horror movie guru (sorry Dre), it’s been hard to hold this back - but hey, it’s been weeks since I ranted about something! With tomorrow’s release of new destined-to-suck “Prom Night” remake, I think Hollywood has hit the wall. Is nothing sacred? Must we bastardize every classic? The answer from Tinseltown is YE$$$$$$$$$! I suppose after remakes “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Halloween”, I shouldn’t be surprised - and I’m not…I’m just pissed off a little bit! At least they haven’t touched “Susperia” - Wait, the rumor is that it’s in production. Dammit! The good news is now that there’s nothing left to remake from the 70’s and 80’s, writers might have to start coming up with original ideas again. I’m just glad they haven’t gone after the scariest movie ever…..sonofabitch
Somebody let me know when “Candyman” goes into production. Oh, and if Tony Todd isn’t starring, put me out of my misery.
I’d like to extend my thanks to my former home, The Daily Iowan for this phenomenal interactive map for this year’s Mission Creek Fest. Normally I wouldn’t recommend taking directions from anyone but us, but I’ll be damned if this isn’t just super fine.
Let me start this post by stating the obvious. This winter has sucked. Specifically, it has sucked the marrow from my bones and left a slushy trail of S.A.D. in its wake. The winter has also left roughly 32.73 inches of permafrost on the roads of Iowa City, damaging the streets and also the fragile suspension of my 1992 Lincoln Continental. As I wave goodbye to my antique auto and look ahead to purchasing a new car, I find myself asking, “What type of car will I buy?” Before my A.D.D. riddled brain can even begin to confront this query, another question pops up. What indie rock makes me want to a buy a new car? What? You don’t think about things like this? Every since I saw “The Funeral” featured in the new Ford commercial, I’ve been putting a lot of thought into this. After much deliberation, here is my list of the next five indie gems to be placed into the automotive marketing scheme (with sales pitches in parentheses).
1. Evangelicals - “Bloodstream” - (The new Honda Civic will become a part of you. You can feel it cruising through your bloodstream.)
Kinda makes you wonder why Grandaddy didn’t sell cars. Wait, didn’t “Crystal Lake” come with Windows XP? At least their talents weren’t totally wasted on mainstream consumerism.
Download: Evangelicals - Bloodstream (The Evening Descends, 2008)
2. Rilo Kiley - “The Moneymaker” (The new Lexus will let everyone know that you are the moneymaker.)
Nevermind that just a few years ago they were an actual band. That does not matter. Now, Rilo Kiley sells things, including their music, cars, and… their souls. NOTE: As I write this, this song is the background music for a new FX show or something like that. I hope the show features RK as the actors - because God knows their performances in “Troop Beverly Hills” and “Salute your Shorts” far outweighs their music at this point.
Download: Rilo Kiley - The Moneymaker (Under the Blacklight, 2007)
3. Headlights - “Cherry Tulips” (Ahh, the 2008 VW Bug. Things are good.)
Could Erin Fein sell me anything? Yes, anything. Including cars.
Download: Headlights - Cherry Tulips (Some Racing, Some Stopping, 2008)
4. Spoon - “The Underdog” (The 2008 Kia Spectra is here. The underdog has arrived.)
I feel like this already happened. Really? This hasn’t already happened?
Download: Spoon - The Underdog (Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, 2007)
5. Evangelicals - “Skeleton Man” (Feel like you’re missing something? Let the new Chevrolet Aveo complete you.)
Yes, they made the list once already, but who cares? This whole album could be licensed to GM. Not that they should, but…we’re just sayin’. Don’t get any ideas, guys.
Download: Evangelicals - Skeleton Man (The Evening Descends, 2008)
First of all, props to Bruce Nemerov, Barack Obama, and Connor Oberst. There are over 100 Grammys given out, from Best Hawaiian Music to Best Children’s Instrumental Album to Best Long Form Music video. The majority of these little gems will forever go unnoticed by the general public, and even the indie public (did I just invent that term?), and you know what, who the hell are the Grammys even for, anyway?! Who cares?! It’s like the band playing as the Titanic sinks! It’s an exercise in self-fellation from the most fellated people on the whole planet, and, and…whoa, is that really Tina Turner?
This is what the Grammys do. They distract you from the problems, the RIAA lawsuits, and all the other bullshit for a night of ridiculous excess and performances that literally no one beside Grammy producers can dream up. The Grammys (Prime Time TV Edition) even obscures other, “less important,” Grammys! Which is why I wanted to mention Bruce Nemerov, Barack Obama, and Connor Oberst. Best Liner Notes, Best Spoken Word Album, and Best Album Art (respectively) are nothing to sneeze at, gents. I salute you. And I also predict the future: Obama beat out former Presidents Clinton and Carter in his category. That’s change we can believe in, kids. And for you Hawaiians out there, the winner was Treasures of the Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar.
Cool? Cool. Now hit the jump so we can gossip about Kanye and Winehouse.
Ahh, a snow day! This term may be lost for those of you with “real” jobs, but 3/5 of us here at the Freak work for the school district! Put your visions of a Mission Freak snowball fight on hold though, there are more important things to discuss on a glacial day such as this. What could be more important you ask? How about safety? That’s right, safety. Specifically while crossing the street. With cars sliding here and there, it’s important that we all remember that the buddy system is not just for sorority girls and pre-school field trips. Here to give us the lowdown is your favorite band from your preteen years (excluding Andre). Click Elmo to continue!
