November 2008

Singer/songwriter extraordinaire Geri X is freezing her ass off in Wisconsin and has decided to return to Tampa Bay-- permanently.

Which makes us very happy.

Few musical traditions are more peculiar and compelling than the katajjaq throat singing of the Inuit, a 25,000-strong native population concentrated in Canada's Nunavut territory. It's as much a game as a form of music: pairs of women face and embrace one another, unleashing a wild torrent of grunts, exhalations, inhalations, and all manner of guttural, rumbling low-end noises. Each woman rapidly follows her partner, so that their streams of sounds are almost like fun-house reflections of each other--this is made easier, one presumes, because the singers hold their faces so close together that they can use each other's mouths as harmonic resonators. A "song" ends when one of the women is reduced to laughter or simply runs out of breath.

A few years ago a singer calling herself Tagaq (aka Tanya Tagaq Gillis), who'd grown up in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, largely ignorant of the tradition, began to attract notice by radically recontextualizing katajjaq for the pop world. Homesick while attending art school in Halifax in the late 90s, her mother sent a care package that included some katajjaq cassettes that inspired to experiment with the style while in the shower. Over the next few years she refined her practice and eventually began performing, adapting the tradition for solo voice, with a DJ.

The Deal: Charlotte rockers release The Ruthless Workings of Nature, follow-up to 2001's Laguna Negra.

The Good: The band has survived a handful of lineup changes - currently singer Leahanne Woods-Smith, guitarist Andy Cauble, drummer Thomas Whitley, guitarist Rob Tavaglione and bassist Asher Griffis - since it first formed in 2001. There's a raw edge here - nothing should be polished in metal, anyway. The higher tone of Woods-Smith's vocals make an interesting dichotomy against the distorted riffs of music. While the disc gets off to a rough start, "Escape Through Dreamholes," is a fine reprieve that sets off the rest of the album - changing speeds, varying vocals, solid songwriting. "Caught In" was another highlight. Woods-Smith showcases her vocal talent on "Ella Es La Voz De La Diosa" and on the slowed down "Spotted Scattered Existence."

Six months have passed since Snowden last appeared onstage at Lenny's for Corndogorama in June. Since then, the rumor mill has percolated with talk of relations turned sour between the band and its Wilmington, Del.-based indie label, Jade Tree Records. And for the most part, the rumors are true.

After inking a three-record deal with Jade Tree and embarking on six tours across the United States and Europe within a year's time, Snowden frontman/guitarist/principle songwriter Jordan Jeffares wasn't happy with how things were proceeding and he wanted out; so much so that he got his lawyer involved.

There's a scene in the recent film Role Models in which a horn-dog convinces a woman to take a bunch of Ambien before having sex, because it's supposed to get really trippy if you can fight it and stay awake. This is kind of how I feel about the idea of seeing Palms on Saturday, after eating all the turkey day leftovers.

Palms are pretty much the same band as the Finches, only with a different name. Confused? Me too! Carolyn Pennypacker-Riggs is still the main singer, but she's joined by a bunch of new folks (including Dear Nora's Katy Davidson), all of whom are listed as being in the Finches as well. 

One time a few years back, I decided I was going to kick the post-Thanksgiving Tryptophan coma by shotgunning a few cans of Red Bull after devouring the turkey et al. If you're not into that kind of energy drink freakout (it does come with a nasty hangover), I suggest checking out Les Hormones on Saturday instead. The local trio -- featuring one hot lady and two hot gents -- infuses the typical garage-rock racket (see Crypt Records, Supercharger), with an added bit of French snarl. They've got one single out, on Head's Up Records, which has also released odd, scuzzy discs by lady vegetarians and King Khan's six-year-old daughter.

For this show, they're joined by Personal & the Pizzas, a semi-local outfit that plays the kind of '70s punk that flirted with power-pop and didn't get it's ass kicked (see Milk 'n' Cookies, Hubble Bubble). 

Les Hormones, Personal & the PIzzas, Wild Thing @ Hemlock Tavern on Saturday, November 29; doors 9:30 p.m., tickets $5.

The Deal: "Reigning King of Afrobeat," son of Fela, releases first studio album in seven years.

The Good: Afro-beat's closest sonic relative may be reggae, but on Kuti's latest release, he does what he can to infuse a jazz influence and bring the music to its Nigerian roots. His 17-piece band may be in full-force, but Kuti spent some of his time off from recording learning to play piano and reintroducing himself to the trumpet. Themes of peace flow throughout the disc's 12 tracks. The album is definitely music with a message, but the influence is as much on the music. There's plenty of instrumentation on the seven-and-a-half minute "Demo Crazy." A mostly instrumental track, "Do You Know," calls out a number of jazz greats, Billie Holiday and Miles Davis among them.

For today's interview we call out Nikki Darlin, vocalist and Ukelele player for Murfreesboro, Tenn. country trio Those Darlins.

Who are you?
The infamous Nikki Darlin.

Describe yourself in three words.
magic, drunk, smashy.

Who -- dead or alive -- would most you like to meet?
The Marx Brothers. The best entertainers of all time without a doubt!

Whom would you most like to slap in the face?
There are so many I don't know where to start, mostly old smart ass men (not in the funny way) who are condescending creeps to young women like myself and the rest of the Darlins.

  The most hyped record in rock history begins with a big noise -- but it's ultimately more of a whimper than a bang. The opening title-track amounting to a Pro Tools mess of guitar processing that pours out of the speakers loud and hard but never rocks, never swings, never grabs you the way, say, the entire first side of Appetite for Destruction did. Axl Rose's voice, though, remains an awesomely sadistic growl, a reminder that, yes, it has truly been missed during the past 15 years.

Chinese Democracy improves with the industrial-informed freak out "Shackler's Revenge" and again with the muscular guitar kiss-off "Better" - because no one delivers bitter quite like Axl. The same theme is explored on the power ballad "Street of Dreams" (previously leaked as "The Blues"). Keyboards, strings, face-melting guitar solos (courtesy of both Buckethead and Robin Finkck), it's Axl, the music mad man genius at his post-modern Wall of Sound best. The only bummer is when the singer dips into his lower register. I can't help but hear Forgetting Sarah Marshall's "Dracula's Lament."

When Q-Tip picks up the phone for a recent interview with CL, you can hear a relaxed tone in his voice. He seems to be in good spirits, but as the questions flow and his answers are short, you realize maybe all isn't quite right ... and then it happens. He blows his nose and releases a couple of harsh coughs. He shakes it off though nothing happened, but kicking off a nationwide tour when you are feeling under the weather can't be fun. Especially when you're riding on a packed, loud tour bus. "There are TVs going in both rooms, so I hope you'll be able to hear me," the soft-spoken artist says.

One of the founding members of the legendary hip-hop act A Tribe Called Quest, these days, Q-Tip, 38, is focused on his solo career. He started with Tribe when he was just 18 years old -- the band broke up in 1998. The group has played a number of shows since reuniting in 2006, some as recent as this year. He says the old days with Tribe, as expected, have had a big influence on his sound today. "It's all drawing from the same well," he says. "It was a different time, though, a different age." His most recent effort, The Renaissance, was released on Nov. 4.