Sounds Good: The Lighthouse and the Whaler, Brown Bird, Jerry Seinfeld, El Ten Eleven, & Norah Jones

Barbecue, jazz, and crappy football…

That’s what KC is known for, and this weekend we certainly aren’t skimping on any of these grand traditions.

For the ribs and swing, head on down to 18th and Vine for the 2012 Rhythm & Ribs Festival, featuring performances by Brian McKnight and Arturo Sandoval, among others.  Check their website here for more info.

For the horrible football, simply head on out to Lawrence, Columbia, or Arrowhead I suppose the Chiefs have the best hope of the three against the lowly Buccaneers, while KU and MU will likely pray to not get embarrassed by OK State and Bama, respectively.

To the picks!…

Thursday, October 11th

The Lighthouse and the Whaler at the Jackpot in Lawrence

This new-ish Cleveland band plays an unobtrusive brand of indie-chamber-pop-rock.  Tangent: Aren’t you tired of all these stupid-ass labels for bands?  I mean, what does that even mean?  Something?  Nothing?  Moving on…

They use a wide variety of instrumentation, like violin, organ, xylophone, strings, you get the idea, to create memorable pop songs in the vein of Fleet FoxesNPR did a feature on them about a week ago, which you can check out here and listen to a few tracks.

Brown Bird at the Granada in Lawrence

These folk-sters have been making quite a bit of progress lately.  The first line of their bio on their website reads, “Brown Bird is better listened to in a room made of wood.” 

So there’s that. 

Their last album generally received high praise, like this tidbit from No Depression‘s Jonathan Sanders:

“An example of haunting classicist folk from artists who know what they’re talking about, Salt for Salt is hands down the best folk album I’ve heard this year, stunningly arranged and executed. This album is a spectacular example of what can be done within the framework of traditional music to push it into the headphones of a new generation, without falling victim to incongruous stabs of modernity.”

Not totally sure what all that means, except that it sounds like something you’re going to want to listen to. 

Friday, October 12th

Jerry Seinfeld at the Midland in KC

Really?  Really?  Jerry’s been keeping busy lately with a series of videos called Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee that he posts on his website.  And it’s just what you would think it is – he picks up a comedian buddy of his and drives around talking and stops places and drinks coffee.  Sounds sweet right?  Actually no.  But for some reason when Jerry Seinfeld does it, it’s very entertaining.  What’s the deal with that?  I can’t put my finger on it.  Hmmmm….

 

Saturday, October 13th

El Ten Eleven at the Jackpot in Lawrence

This instrumental group out of LA combines a bunch of stuff that’s not that cool by itself, like loop stations, doubleneck guitars, tons of effects, and electronic sounds.  Come to think of it, a bunch of bands try to incorporate all these things and end up swimming in a sea of noisy crap.

But these guys do it with a bit more taste and an ear for the composition as a whole, adding an atmospheric and more organic feel to their music instead of just a mish-mash of bleeps and bloops.  They’ve got a brand new album called Transitions that just came out last week, so expect to hear most of that at this show.

Norah Jones at the Midland in KC

Jones was destined for musical success the moment she breathed her first breath as the daughter of sitar guru Ravi Shankar.

Her most recent album, produced by Danger Mouse and entitled Little Broken Hearts, veers away somewhat from the sound she cultivated with much success on her breakthrough hit single Don’t Know Why.  This time around there’s more vitriol and more pop hooks, too.  The album is centered on a nasty breakup with her long-time boyfriend, and it includes songs like She’s 22 and Happy Pills.

After a recent performance in LA at the Hollywood Bowl, The Orange County Register‘s Ben Wener heaped praise on the revitalized songstress:

“Stunningly gorgeous yet visually placid as ever, Norah Jones has finally hit upon Leonard Cohen’s secret to achieving complete audience entrancement while seeming to do hardly anything at all: Fully expose your heart in every fraction of your songs and people will hang on every word.”

http://www.mb-kc.com/
This entry was posted in Matthew_Donnelly. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Sounds Good: The Lighthouse and the Whaler, Brown Bird, Jerry Seinfeld, El Ten Eleven, & Norah Jones

  1. PB says:

    Norah Jones is so fking hot!

    Other notes…

    Bay-area bluesman, Joe Louis Walker will steal the show at that Rythym & Ribs Festival.
    And if in for a Knuckleheads-kind of evening, catch soul singer extraordinaire, Curtis Salgado (supposedly the basis for Belushi’s Joliet Jake Blues character), on Saturday night.

  2. Kerouac says:

    CAPTION, TOP PHOTO

    “3 Points of View”

    Clark, Scott & Romeo hard at work building the ‘right 53’ / perfect football team…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *