Mimicking Birds, ethereal goodness

Last Sunday I once again found myself at a Modest Mouse show. This one was at Revolution in Ft. Lauderdale. I saw Isaac and the boys last June in Miami at the Jackie Gleason Theatre. While Revolution is a better venue, the show in June was much better. I don't know if Mr. Brock is back on the stuff or not, but he sure was acting funny this time around.

To open the show, Modest enlisted a recent signing to Isaac's Glacial Pace label. The band is Mimicking Birds. No doubt they would have been a better match opening for Iron & Wine or Bon Iver. In fact, they seemed to lull the audience to a daze. They, nonetheless, kicked a significant amount of ass, and their ethereal mix of acoustic picking and ambient vocals pretty much blew me away. Look for good things from these guys. I don't think they have released any albums yet, but I have pretty much been listening to their myspace (http://www.myspace.com/natelacy) non-stop.

... and a quick word of advice. Don't waste your time on Japenese Motors, who is the other band touring with Modest. They are a tired, repetition of what has been done a million times since The Strokes and B.R.M.C. entered the scene.

Ryan Bingham, bona fide troubadour

So, a couple of weeks ago I was watching Austin City Limits on PBS. The episode included a performance by one of my favorite bands of all time-- the Drive-By Truckers. The DBT performance was decent, but having seen the band several times the PBS didn't quite do them justice. They are indeed one of the best live acts ever. What I was most struck by, however, was the other performer PBS had lined up for that particular episode... a self-professed "desperado from West Texas" named Ryan Bingham.

Bingham is wise beyond his years, probably due to years spent in the rodeo circuit or maybe just growing up in the drylands of this country's great southwest. Whatever the source of his maturity, it is no doubt reflected in his raspy cigarette and whiskey-infested voice. The dude is a bona fide troubadour... a sort of Tom Waits meets Willie Nelson. Do your self a favor and check him out. I highly recommend his most recent release "Mescalito," while you're at it, you might as well go ahead and watch this video from his PBS debut: http://www.pbs.org/klru/austin/flash/video/player2/index.php?xml=/klru/austin/images/stories/ACL/Artists/B/ryanbingham/video/3412_bingham_song.xml

"Hard Times. Everybody's got 'em if you look around"... ain't that the damn truth of it.

If you were supposed to watch you're mouth all the time I doubt your eyes would be above it

Today's top 5:

1) Drive-By Truckers "Carl Perkin's Cadillac"
2) Kevin Harvick's Number 29 Holiday Inn Chevy
3) Hackensaw Boys "Gospel Plow"
4) Steep Canyon Rangers Lovin' Pretty Women
5) Jim Beam