sun-fed shapes

As the sun set on Lake Mendota, Brooklyn’s Inlets played a cozy show at the Gates of Heaven Synagogue in Madison, Wisconsin on April 29, 2010. The tiny venue, featuring not much more than an altar and a lofted area, created a complete immersion of sound for the crowd and decimated the barrier between listener and performer.

Inlets’s recent release, Inter Arbiter, features rolling guitars, tapped percussion, and orchestral touches. It’s as if the first two-and-a-half minutes of Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android” got stretched out and developed into its own album (and that’s a good thing). Live, songs like single “Bright Orange Air” were a little bit darker and heavier than their recorded counterparts, but it worked and made for a unique experience.

Opening the show was Wisconsin one-man show Yellow Ostrich. The charmingly awkward Alex Schaaf used a guitar, tom, and loop pedal to create lush layers of sound and choir-like vocals appropriate for the synagogue setting. In addition to his own material, he also did a lovely cover of “Androgynous”, prefacing the song by saying that “it’s by The Replacements – they’re a band.” Truth.

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Visit the Inlets website here.
Visit the Yellow Ostrich Facebook page here.
View photos from the show here.

stream of conciousness – alex chilton

While driving to work the other day, I heard “The Letter”, a 1967 hit by The Box Tops. I’ve always liked it, and my brain full of trivia reminded me Alex Chilton was their singer. But did I then think about Alex Chilton’s other music achievements? Nope. I thought about The Replacements first. Then, finally, AC’s 70s outfit, Big Star. Click through the videos below to see some of the craziness floating around inside my head.

The Box Tops – The Letter

The Replacements – Alex Chilton

Big Star – Thirteen

john sellers mix

After reading Perfect From Now On, I promptly hopped on the internet and asked author John Sellers to make a mixtape for the M|H. He ever-so-kindly obliged and I now proudly present you with this lovely mix to close out the year. Clocking in at a little over sixteen minutes, it’s a perfect get ready and go mix.

From John Sellers:
“I have a shockingly short attention span. Luckily, some musicians have helped me out by writing incredibly short songs that still manage to totally rule. here are thirteen rockers that check in at 1:30 or under. The best part is, if you don’t like one of them, it’ll be over quick.”

01| Guided By Voices – Wire Greyhounds
02| The Beatnik Filmstars – Hairstyle of a Smug Bastard
03| Sleater-Kinney – A Real Man
04| Pavement – Heckler Spray
05| Robert Pollard – I’m A Strong Lion
06| Archers of Loaf – Fat
07| Times New Viking – Ladders
08| Pixies – Distance Equals Rate Times Time
09| Guided By Voices – Shocker In Gloomtown
10| Bad Brains – Pay to Cum!
11| The Replacements – Customer
12| Sebadoh – Sixteen
13| Pixies – Broken Face