KC music
Artists on Trial: Heartfelt Anarchy
Emcee Les Izmore and producer D/WILL make up the electrifying hip-hop duo Heartfelt Anarchy. The two artists blend their respective talents together in this project to create a vital, prolific musical collective for the Kansas City scene to enjoy. We talk with them about their upcoming appearance at Middle of the Map Fest.
The Deli: Down and dirty: 1 sentence to describe your music. What is it?
D/WILL: Alan Parsons Project x DJ premier instrumentals with Izmore raps on top.
Les Izmore: Middle of The Map Music.
The Deli: What other artists are you looking forward to seeing at MotM?
D/WILL: Ebony Tusks, Stik Figa, and all the amazing DJs.
The Deli: Let’s talk about the self-titled album you just released, What can we expect?
Heartfelt Anarchy: An experience.
The Deli: What does supporting local music mean to you?
Heartfelt Anarchy: Community.
The Deli: Who are your favorite local musicians right now?
Les: Cowboy Indian Bear, The Abnorm, Diverse, and The Conquerors.
The Deli: Who are your favorite not-so-local musicians right now?
D/WILL: Binary Star, WLAK, Lecrae, Yellawolf, Kendrick Lamar, The Black Keys, Ces Cru.
Les: Antibalas, Ka, Animal Collective, Kendrick Lamar, and Danny Brown.
The Deli: What is your ultimate fantasy concert bill to play on?
D/WILL: I have been blessed to rock with a lot of national acts, so that's a tough one... Madlib and J.Roc, maybe.
Les: James Brown and The JBs, Exuma, Outkast, Rage Against The Machine, and Fela Kuti.
The Deli: Would you rather spend the rest of your life on stage or in the recording studio?
D/WILL: In the recording studio.
Les: Stage.
The Deli: A music-themed Mount Rushmore. What four faces are you putting up there and why?
D/WILL: James Brown—he's the godfather of soul, and was the hardest working man in show biz.
Marvin Gaye—super soul!! So talented... an amazing musician/producer and his voice is like heaven.
J Dilla—King. He changed the way my ears hear music.
Les: James Brown, Sun Ra, Fela Kuti, Bo Diddley.
The Deli: All right, give us the rundown. Where all on this big crazy web can you be found?
Heartfelt Anarchy: http://heartfeltanarchy.bandcamp.com
The Deli: Always go out on a high note. Any last words of wisdom for the Deli audience?
D/WILL: Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
Les: Each crew Teach Two. And check out live shows. And put down ya phones and engage.
Heartfelt Anarchy is:
D-WILL
Les Izmore
Check out Heartfelt Anarchy at Middle of the Map Fest Friday, April 5, where they will play at The Conspiracy Room inside The Uptown Theater at 10:00 pm. They will play right after The Last Bison and right before Kids These Days.
You can check out their other projects at Middle of the Map too—Les will be featured with The Hearts of Darkness on Saturday at 2:00 pm on The Outdoor Stage (outside of Buzzard Beach). D/WILL performs with Stik Figa at The Riot Room on Saturday at 11:30 pm.
--Michelle Bacon
Artists on Trial: Shadow Paint
Though you may not be terribly familiar with them, Shadow Paint has been around Kansas City for the past year. Since vocalist Angela Schroder-Dill moved to Boston last summer, the rest of the band has played as Rooms Without Windows, but will reunite to play at this year’s Middle of the Map Fest. We talk with the band about its plans and its upcoming performance.
The Deli: Down and dirty: 1 sentence to describe your music. What is it?
Shadow Paint: For those who follow the life philosophy of “Game On.”
The Deli: What other artists are you looking forward to seeing at MotM?
Shadow Paint: Tennis, Thee Water MoccaSins, Palace, Roman Numerals, and Kitten.
The Deli: Tell us a little about Shadow Paint and the projects you are all in now.
Shadow Paint: We started in January 2012. We last played October 27 at a loft in Kansas City. Corey, Hanna, Chris B, and Chris T are in local band Rooms Without Windows and Angela moved to Boston and has joined an electronic project called Citrusphere. Angela and Corey have partnered up for LowGrumbles, sending tracks back and forth via email.
The Deli: Let’s talk about something you have coming up this year. What can we expect?
Shadow Paint: We have two songs available to download for free on our Soundcloud. With our members being split between Boston and KC, we don't currently have any other shows lined up, but this is NOT the last of Shadow Paint!!! To hold you over, check out our other projects!
The Deli: What does supporting local music mean to you?
Shadow Paint: Going to local shows and dancing your heart out. Having a good time with the talented people in your community.
The Deli: Who are your favorite local musicians right now?
Shadow Paint: Hard to say, too many favorites, but one newish band we're loving right now is Is Paris Burning.
The Deli: Who are your favorite not-so-local musicians right now?
Shadow Paint: Again, too many favorites, but if we had to name some: Wild Nothing, Cloud Nothings, The XX.
The Deli: What is your ultimate fantasy concert bill to play on?
Shadow Paint: Björk, Paul McCartney, Radiohead, Joy Division, and David Bowie.
The Deli: Would you rather spend the rest of your life on stage or in the recording studio?
Shadow Paint: On stage.
The Deli: A music-themed Mount Rushmore. What four faces are you putting up there and why?
Shadow Paint: All four members of the Beatles, because their music continues to amaze and inspire.
The Deli: All right, give us the rundown. Where all on this big crazy web can you be found?
Shadow Paint: https://www.facebook.com/ShadowPaint
The Deli: Always go out on a high note. Any last words of wisdom for the Deli audience?
Shadow Paint: Just keep on laughing, loving, and living, and you'll be okay.
Shadow Paint is:
Chris Brower – drums
Angela Schroder-Dill – vocals
Hanna Smith – keys, vocals
Chris Turner – bass
Corey Vitt – guitar
Check out Shadow Paint at Middle of the Map Fest next Thursday, April 4. They will be playing that evening at 7:00 pm.
--Michelle Bacon
Artists on Trial: Dead Ven
As one of the artists of Kansas City’s Money Wolf Music collective, Dead Ven brings a rough-edged, socially conscious folk approach to the local music scene. We talked with frontman Ven Smith about what the band has in store for the year, including its upcoming appearances at Middle of the Map Fest and Center of the City Fest.
The Deli: Down and dirty: 1 sentence to describe your music. What is it?
Dead Ven: Street-folk, positive anthems of discontent for the working class. Woody Guthrie meets OI! a la Angelic Upstarts…? Damn. It all sounds so pretentious.
The Deli: What other artists are you looking forward to seeing at MotM?
Dead Ven: Besides all my Money Wolf Music family and all the great KC bands I see all the time? The Whigs—I'm a sucker for '90's, ‘00's alternative, stoked to see White Lung and a lot of other bands I haven't gotten to experience yet!
The Deli: Let’s talk about something you have coming up this year. What can we expect?
Dead Ven: Dead Ven has an ultra-limited 7" pre-order coming out in the next month or so on Money Wolf Music with punk legend Kevin Seconds of 7seconds. It's a dream for me, growing up listening to 7seconds and all the the great hardcore-punk of that era—plus he's a great guy and his singer-songwriter stuff is incredibly passionate and well-written.
The Deli: So, you guys are playing Center of the City Fest too? Busy!
Dead Ven: Wow, you noticed. Yeah, I think we're the only band playing the "fest" and the "anti-fest,” haha. Dead Ven was asked back to return to Center of the City after playing the inaugural fest last year and prior to Money Wolf Music being given a stage at Middle of the Map. There's a lot of backstory in there, but we're happy as hell to be participating in anything and everything that supports Kansas City and all the music and arts contained therein. I think in the end, that's what everyone involved in both is really going for: growing the scene.
The Deli: What does supporting local music mean to you?
Dead Ven: Go to shows. Buy the records. Eat/drink Boulevard at the bar. Tell people about shows and bands you like. Make something cool happen. Be excellent to each other.
The Deli: Who are your favorite local musicians right now?
Dead Ven: Wow, so many. Of course all my (obligatory self-promotion) Money Wolf Music labelmates— there's so much talent there, but recent discoveries? I just saw The Electric Lungs and they put on a hell of a show, The New Riddim made me "skank" for the first time in a decade, love Bent Left, Smash the State and The Rackatees (Lawrence) bros and their ethic about making stuff happen. I also just had a chance to play a stripped down set with Gregg Todt; that dude is so intensely good.
The Deli: Who are your favorite not-so-local musicians right now?
Dead Ven: Bob Fucking Mould put out a new record this year. Bruce Springsteen put out a new one last year. Also, I could list about a hundred more punk bands that are currently slaying. I would be remiss if I didn't mention how much I still love Tim Armstrong and Chuck Ragan and Hot Water Music.
The Deli: What is your ultimate fantasy concert bill to play on?
Dead Ven: The one where all my best friends spend part of the show in the crowd and part on stage and we all sing along with each other's songs. Also, if I could play claves for The Foo Fighters.
The Deli: Would you rather spend the rest of your life on stage or in the recording studio?
Dead Ven: Stage, all stage. I’ll never be a “recording artist.” That's not my jam; I'm in it for the community, the experience of sharing with good people. I greatly prefer hearing the noise of a show over myself in some earphones, plus I get tired of my songs really easily.
The Deli: A music-themed Mount Rushmore. What four faces are you putting up there and why?
Dead Ven: Neil Young, Ian MacKaye, Bruce Springsteen. No explanation, but god that makes me feel old. And… Fred Durst. Yeah, Fred Durst for sure.
The Deli: All right, give us the rundown. Where all on this big crazy web can you be found?
Dead Ven: http://www.facebook.com/DeadVen
The Deli: Always go out on a high note. Any last words of wisdom for the Deli audience?
Dead Ven: RISE ABOVE. STAY WILD. FOREVER TRY.
Dead Ven is:
Ven Smith
Nathan Long
Ethan Taylor
Justin Penney
Dennis Hinaris
Check out Dead Ven at Middle of the Map Fest next Friday, April 5. They will be playing the Money Wolf stage at 8:00 pm at Westport Coffeehouse, followed by Dollar Fox, The Latenight Callers, and The Hillary Watts Riot. They will also be playing at Center of City Fest at The Black & Gold Tavern (formerly The Newsroom) on Saturday evening at 9:15 pm.
--Michelle Bacon
Album review: The Blackbird Revue - Glow (EP)
2013 is shaping up to be another very fine vintage for local music, with several quality releases already available and a slew of eagerly-anticipated albums coming soon to fine retailers and Bandcamp pages near you. Add to this list Glow, the third EP (and first since 2010) from The Blackbird Revue. Husband-and-wife team Jacob and Danielle Prestidge have established themselves as purveyors of an ear-pleasing sound that combines Americana, folk, country, and indie pop in various layers, and their vocal harmonies continue to astonish and devastate. Glow shows the twosome, with the help of several skilled musicians, bringing these skills to the listener in fine form.
The lead track, “When You Are Mine,” shows The Blackbird Revue at the height of its harmonic powers. Those of you who have taken singing lessons or been involved in choral music for any number of years will understand this: both Jacob and Danielle show great ability at singing over the notes. Coming at the music from above gives the vocals an airy, lilting quality during the softer moments at the beginning of this song (and throughout the EP), but the second half sees the tempo change from a gentle breeze to a howling gale, lifting the listener up and carrying said listener on a Thelma and Louise-esque ride straight over the cliff …
… where the title track awaits to catch you and cradle you in its gentle comfort. Glow paints a lyrical landscape with such verses as “fade / our sunsoaked yesterdays / to sepias and grays,” with the intertwined voices alternating in the roles of both palette and canvas. “Winter Rest” is the most pop-sensible track of the four, with undeniable hooks that make toe-tapping a near certainty. The EP concludes with “Lone Swan,” a winsome ballad that offers an encouraging word and a shoulder to lean on for someone whose burden has grown heavy (“this world is cruel this world is kind / and sometimes love is hard to find / so if you need to clear your mind / take the keys and take your time”).
When you listen to Glow, you hear music that pleases with its honesty and directness, but the notes that spring from your speakers don’t tell the entire story. Listening to Danielle and Jacob work together, harmonize together, and just be together, you realize that they have … something … indefinable, yet unmistakable. This isn’t just a musical duo, and this isn’t just a married couple. This is a union of two spirits and souls that complement each other perfectly as no other could. The underlying intensity and obvious passion shine brightly throughout this 14-minute love letter from the Blackbird Revue.
I hope someday we all get to experience that same glow.
The group’s next performance will be next Friday, March 8 at River’s Bend Restaurant and Bar in Parkville with Jason Craig and The Wingmen at 8:00 pm (Facebook event here). The Blackbird Revue will also be a part of the HomeGuard Festival VIP party on Saturday, March 16 at The Midwestern Musical Co. at 7:00 pm.
--Michael Byars
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Michael Byars may or may not be pickling things at this moment. It’s possible that he’s already had four or five bottles of Mountain Dew by now. There’s a chance that he is at a hookah bar somewhere. You may say he’s a dreamer. But most of all, he spells pretty well and he works for free, so we let him write stuff for us sometimes. |
Album review: The ACBs - Little Leaves
The ACBs return with a rapid and manic compilation of mentally unstable orchestrations masquerading as two-minute pop songs. Extremely compact arrangements treat fluff like a four-letter word as the Kansas City foursome cruises through thirteen tracks in roughly 30 minutes.Seriously, only two tracks on this album crest the three-minute mark. Often they halt suddenly without cause or warning, which actually works well within the scope of Little Leaves, as each song almost serves like a poetic prelude into the following one.
The music is mostly driven by the pretty-boy sounding guitars, all cleaned up and ready to be taken home to meet your mom. Occasionally, they are allowed to dance with the distortion pedal which provides just enough 5 o’clock shadow to thicken the sonic landscape. The rhythm section and additional instrumentation are solidly envisioned and executed, rarely providing more than just the perfect amount of foundation, dynamics, and drive. Lead vocalist Konnor Ervin vocalizes with an unsure innocence, often coming across like a preteen Ben Gibbard or Connor Oberst just on the verge of hitting puberty. At times it is hard to tell if he is unwilling to commit to the idiosyncrasies of his voice, but in the scope of the whole record, the vocal performance becomes a sporadic, almost neurotic force of dynamics and mystery.
Thematically, Little Leaves is deliciously sinister. Under the sheen of ‘60s go-go girl guitars and booty-shaking beats, there are real issues being thrown around here. While other smiley pop songs are out pining over girls and living up the good life, these tracks are popping Xanax and cutting themselves. They know exactly how many times they can hit their heads on the wall before they pass out. It is an extremely interesting and impressive contrast of style and substance. Not too many bands can be so musically joyful and thematically self destructive at the same time.
The album kicks off with “All Over,” a perfect candidate for the background music to that montage from your favorite romantic comedy where the guy and girl desperately scramble to try to get over each other (only to later realize at the height of some sort of arbitrary “emergency” that they are destined to be together). But just as you are preparing yourself for a quiet and reserved collection of introspective lullabies, the album rushes through a handful of more straightforward pocket-sized burners, most effective being “Oceans.” Almost channeling the more recent work of The Get Up Kids, this song features some of the best usage of additional instrumentation on the record, slowly slipping into just enough sonic cacophony to separate it from the rest of the bunch.
“Underweight,” with its fraught longing and simplicity, seems like a cathartic demo that didn’t quite make the final cut for consideration on Pinkerton. Just a super gorgeous slice of sorrow.
(lyrics transcribed the best these musician ears can understand)
When we go up state
I won’t search for you I promise
Up till now I’ve been honest
I’m probably gonna find you there
I don’t want to be trapped under my weight
I don’t want to be trapped underweight and hated
“Xanies” is another stand-out effort. It is a terrific microcosm of the whole album: a funky and dancey track on the surface, yet under the veneer actually more morose than the one-eyed dog from the saddest late-night Sarah McLachlan soundtracked commercial you’ve ever seen.
The ACBs have taken great strides to keep their often bubble gum sound heavily saturated with bittersweet layers of modern living. Overall, these thirteen tracks brilliantly sucker punch the gut with a deep neurosis full of anti-depressants and coping mechanisms, yet remain pleasant and bouncy enough on the surface to engage the casual radio listener. We’ve been anxiously awaiting this sophomore effort for quite some time. Safe to say, this beautiful collection of reality-sodden pop gems exceeds all expectations.
Little Leaves will officially be released this Tuesday, but The ACBs will celebrate the release of the vinyl on Saturday, March 9, at Vinyl Renaissance on 39th St. This free, all-ages show will kick off at 1:00 pm with The People, She’s A Keeper at 1:45, and The ACBs at 2:30. The ACBs will also be performing at Ink’s Middle of the Map Fest from April 4-6. Specific set times and venues TBA.
--Zach Hodson
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Zach Hodson is a monster. He once stole a grilled cheese sandwich from a 4-year-old girl at her birthday party. He will only juggle if you pay him. I hear he punched Slimer right in his fat, green face. He knows the secrets to free energy, but refuses to release them until "Saved by the Bell: Fortysomethings" begins production. He is also in Dolls on Fire and Drew Black & Dirty Electric, as well as contributing to various other Kansas City-based music, comedy, and art projects. |