by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground - "World's Entire" (MP3)

Sean Nelson w/ Harvey Danger at The Bell House in 2009 (more by Alex Erde)

Harvey Danger frontman Sean Nelson, who recently played Cake Shop, plays The Rock Shop on Sunday (tonight, 8/7) as Nelson Sings Nilsson. Inspired by the title of Harry Nilsson's tribute to Randy Newman, Nilsson Sings Newman, he formed the project about a decade ago when Harvey Danger was on hiatus and he started diving into Harry Nilsson's expansive discography. Sean spoke to LAist in 2009 about the project:

When speaking about Nelson Sings Nilsson, you've said that you've been struck by the fact that scandalously few of your peers know Harry Nilsson's music. For those who are unfamiliar with his music, what is the short pitch you give them to acquaint them with this remarkable man?

Well, first I say, "He's the guy who sang 'Everybody's Talkin'' from Midnight Cowboy." And everyone seems to have heard that song. Then I continue with, "And you know 'One [Is the Loneliest Number]'? He wrote that song but wasn't the one who had a hit with it." Next, I talk about "[I Can't Live If Living Is] Without You" and how that's him singing but that he didn't write it. When I mention that one, most people either grimace or say, "Oh, I love that song!" If they still don't know who he is by that point, I say, "You know the 'Coconut' song at the end of Reservoir Dogs?" Everyone gets it by that point. But they still don't know the stuff I think is his best.

Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground, a current project of Kirk Huffman and Kyle O'Quin of the progressive pop punkers Gatsbys American Dream, open Sean's show at The Rock Shop and also act as his backing band. Like Gatsbys, they take from a large variety of genres. You can grab the MP3 for "World's Entire" off their recently released sophomore LP Introducing Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground above. Kay Kay are also about to kick off a tour with The Dear Hunter and O'Brother that hits Knitting Factory on August 12.

They also play the last night of Active Child's residency at The Echo in LA before Active Child kick off their North American tour, which includes the 9/10 Bowery Ballroom show with Com Truise and Young Athletes League. Tickets for that show are still on sale.

All dates and a video below...

Continue reading "Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground playing shows, one w/ Sean Nelson singing Nilsson (dates)"

DOWNLOAD: Damien Jurado - Arkansas (MP3)

"i am still awaiting the release of saint bartlett. soon. may 25th. i am excited and also anxious. it's wanting both, to go out and promote it and also stay at home. it's not how things work though. i'm going to be completely honest. over this past year, i wanted to hang this up. at least the going out into the world part. it was a lot that caused this. my deep growing love and devotion to my son, who is getting older. we have conversations all the time. he understands more. we teach each other new things daily. any day that i am not near him, is heart breaking. "the other part of me" is absent. he is encouraging in my pursuit of music.. well, so long as it's done at home. understandable. another thing that made me consider a change was the joy i felt being in the studio with richard swift. for the first time in my years of playing music, i felt able to really look at the songs for the first time. this is kind of vague. i am not even sure how i begin to explain it. picture a bird, for the first time walking on the edge of a tree limb and jumping. the bird's wings open as it is diving towards the ground, and just before it hits the ground, with the help of his own wings, he is taken to the sky. does this make sense? freedom. it's how i felt about the new songs. about the songs that i have still been writing. about my time in the studio with richard. about my time with him, talking about music and playing records. seeing his un dying devotion to his family and his music career. i left the studio no longer feeling "outside" or apart from other well known songwriters. i now see myself beside them. arm in arm. or at least near them. so here i am now. standing in this line. mentioned in the same breathe as those other musicians. considered a legend of my own time. i don't think that. some in the press said it. i'm fine with it. ...where am i going here? i guess it's to say, that i'm happy about my future and the songs. it's just getting out the front door first. or making it to the edge of the tree limb, to make a flying leap." [Damien Jurado]

Damien Jurado's new album Saint Bartlett will be released by Secretly Canadian on May 25th. Check out the sweet song "Arkansas" from that album above. And Damien will get out the door at least one more time. All tour dates still TBA, but tickets are now on sale for a June 17th NYC show at Mercury Lounge and for one the very next day (6/18) at Littlefield in Brooklyn. Both shows are with Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground. Caleb Engstorm is also listed on the Manhattan show. The new album's tracklist is below...

Continue reading "Damien Jurado is going to tour & release a new album despite wanting to hang it up (MP3 & NYC shows) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground - He Momma (MP3)

Jon Wiley

It's another busy weekend of shows, so much so I'm breaking this week's TWiI into two parts. First and foremost on tonight's (7/9) agenda is the We Are the Wiley benefit at the Shank featuring Lightspeed Champion, Adam Green and Chairlift. Besides being a great lineup in and of its own, the money goes to a good cause. As you may have read in an earlier post, Jon Wiley -- who fronts Spacecamp when he isn't playing in Adam Green and Lightspeed Champion or being an all-around good guy -- had a scare earlier this year that left him diagnosed with MS, and a mountain of medical bills. Like most musicians out there, Jon's has no insurance so please come tonight and help out. The event is co-sponsored by Wanduta, a new national organization designed to support and protect independent musicians, and all proceeds go towards Jon's medical bills.

And you'll get to see Lightspeed Champion play his killer new stuff (he was great at Mercury Lounge a couple weeks back), headliners Chairlift who have gotten better as a live band every time I've seen them, and the always unpredictable Adam Green. And I wouldn't be surprised if Spacecamp didn't play a couple songs too, seeing as they're the backing band for both Adam and Lightspeed. Admission is $15 and is 21+.

Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground

Philadelphia's Mewithoutyou and Atlanta's The Dear Hunter (not Deerhunter) and on tour together and are playing tonight (7/9) at Music Hall of Williamsburg and tomorrow (7/10) at Bowery Ballroom. But I'm not hear to talk about them. Opening for both shows are Seattle's Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground who are one of the city's best bands though maybe you've never heard of them as they don't play outside of their hometown too often. A musical collective that expands and contracts anywhere from 10 to 15 depending on the show, Kay Kay are led by Kirk Huffman and Kyle O'Quin who have other many bands on thier own. (Huffman in particular stays very busy.) Their self-titled debut is clearly in love with the lush, baroque pop of the late '60s and early '70s: think The Zombies (or Colin Blunstone's first solo album), The Left Banke, and Harry Nilsson. If you wanted more recent comparisons, Jellyfish, Jason Falkner or The Format. It holds up to those comparisons pretty well too, as you can hear on their highly-recommend self-titled debut, which was released on vinyl and digitally last year and came out on CD in May of this year. It's too bad they aren't doing a headling date of their own somewhere, but who knows when they'll make it back this way?

Those Darlins @ Bowery Ballroom (more by Toby Tenenbaum)

And a couple other recommended shows tonight: I've been really enjoying Those Darlins' just-released debut album which is sort of like garage rock Tammy Wynette -- and they are a lot of fun live. The whole bill is solid: Jon Spencer's rockabilly explosion Heavy Trash, and the amazing Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers. And if you can't make it tonight, they play Southpaw tomorrow (7/10) with Country Mice and the So So Glow.

Finally, if you haven't seen The Drums yet, they play Public Assembly tonight, but you've got lots of chances to see them.

Tour dates, videos and flyers after the jump....

Continue reading "Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground, We are Wiley & more in This Week in Indie (part 1) "

photos by Chris Graham

Michael Showalter & the gorge, Sasquatch 2008

Michael Showalter was at Sasquatch last year too. More pictures from Monday (day three of Sasquatch) below....

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2008 - day 3 in pictures (Monday May 26)"