Vetiver were in town this Tuesday for an early show at the High Noon (a 7 p.m. show mid work-week is wonderful) and left the reasonably well attended crowd wanting more by the time they packed up after a couple of hours of solid Americana and Folk… the band is headed by Andy Cabic, with cellist Alissa Anderson, drummer Otto Hauser, violinist Carmen Biggers, guitarists Kevin Barker and Sanders Trippe, and bassist Brent Dunn. We didn’t have the entire band on stage but that did not diminish the soothing and warm sound of the band, which can also rock pretty mean! As a side note, Andy is also a keen lover of minimal techno in its vinyl format and often writes his songs to the rhythms of minimal music. We also traded notes on where we could get some of the hard-to-find-in-Madison-and-elsewhere minimal on vinyl.
Check out their live performance the next time in town (or wherever you can). I picked up some of their 12″ LP’s from the merch table for my listening pleasure and they sound delicious. Pick up their tunes on vinyl – also available locally at Strictly Discs in store or through this link here. And some pictures from the show. Enjoy!
I find it hard to call out The Best Albums of 2009. I just don’t like the concept. Lots and lots of new music is released each year, and any one of us only listen to a small fraction of it. Then add in factors for differing tastes and even differing moods, and it seems awfully presumptuous to declare something “The Best Album” of 2009.
But I can tell you My Favorite 2009 Releases!
Dan Auerbach – Keep it Hid
You know him as the fantastic guitar player with the garage blues-rock duo, The Black Keys. When I heard about this solo album, I assumed it would simply give Dan a chance to display his soft side. But I found that it really gave him an opportunity to spread his wings. It has a great flow – starts with an aching acoustic Trouble Weighs a Ton and ends with a really sweet tune – Goin’ Home, which well captures my feelings of “home.” In between there are a dozen great tracks – each with a unique vibe.
While many songs have that great Black Keys feel, the arrangements provide more variety of sound and tempo, ranging from the sublime orchestration of When The Night Comes to the grungy blues rock of The Prowl. This album has a real nice flow, I’ve listened to it many times over the past year and six of the tracks are in my 5-star rotation. (That’s a lot for me!) If you are a fan of The Black Keys, you will definitely want to get this album. If you are not, this album could turn you into one! madisonmusicreview: dan-auerbach-solo-debut-keep-it-hid
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