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Monday, June 6, 2011

Tonight! Tonight in Music: Woodsman, Friendly Fires, EMA, and More!

Posted by Arian Jalali on Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 12:00 PM


WOODSMAN, TAPE DECK MOUNTAIN, HOSANNAS
(Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th) From the first seconds of "Insects," the opening track on Woodsman's Rare Forms record, it's clear the Denver band is onto some dark magic. A heavy drumbeat that somehow both swings and sounds totally nailed to the floor, a repeating arpeggio that sounds pulled straight off Toto's "Africa," a thunderous guitar chord that reverberates fearsomely, an echoed shouted vocal that's more or less incomprehensible. From there, the rest of the record gets weirder, with sound experiments that juxtapose ambient noise against deliberately off-kilter playing. Woodsman is ferociously bizarre, and their sonic alchemy results in some truly unique sounds. This is the kind of anti-pop music that Animal Collective would still be making if they weren't so intent on playing to their ecstasy'ed-out, noodle-dancing fanbase. This is music that looks into the abyss. NED LANNAMANN


FRIENDLY FIRES, WISE BLOOD
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Want to hit the beach, but your current residence in the poorhouse won't permit it? The UK's Friendly Fires provides the get-happy tropical dance/pop/disco you need to whisk you away to another (more temperature-friendly) world. Bring a towel! (If not for the sand, for the sweat!) WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY


DALE EARNHARDT JR. JR., EMA
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) All apologies to the son of a mustachioed racecar hero who entered heaven through the wall at the Daytona 500, but the band Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. are quite forgettable. Palatable and completely acceptable in the background, sure, but the Detroit duo's sound has little staying power and they'll likely be a distant memory by the time they get that cease and desist order from their namesake. Meanwhile, opener EMA is here for the long run. We've been breathlessly heralding Erika M. Anderson's Past Life Martyred Saints as an album-of-the-year frontrunner, a devastatingly personal and stylish recording of an artist coming into her own. While the newfound Portlander's vocals draw clumsily comparisons to Kim Gordon or PJ Harvey, there is a unique vulnerability to the music of EMA, an unmatched sound that won't stray from your memory (or turntable) anytime soon. EZRA ACE CARAEFF


THE DETROIT COBRAS, GIRL IN A COMA
(Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) There's something about Michigan that will forever capture my imagination: Motown, Alice Cooper, early punk rock, even its techno scene—all under the gritty backdrop of its blue-collar skyline. The Detroit Cobras (from you guessed it) are all about it, too—and they might be the best cover band around. For almost two decades, the Cobras' core members—Rachel Nagy and Mary Ramirez—have made a career out of interpreting, reinventing, and rocking the fuck out of obscure tunes found on dusty old 45s. While they pay homage to artists of all shapes and sizes from all over the globe (including Kingston's the Melodians), they keep it in the spirit of their namesake. So what if the Detroit Cobras are a cover band? They are more genuine than the thousands of other bands playing covers and passing them off as originals. MARK LORE

 

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