Bringing Down the Dark Horse

Sometimes you have to sacrifice a gala for a road trip.

In this case, a road trip on a gloriously warm February evening for a drive under a sliver of a yellow moon to Charlottesville to see a swoon-worthy band.

I've been told by someone who should know that my taste in music leans toward the swoon.

So when a friend invited me to the Governor's Cup Gala tonight, I had to decline citing the ticket I bought a month and a half ago to see Other Lives, a band I'd first heard here, at the Southern.

Arriving on the Downtown Mall, I ducked into a Mexican hole-in-the wall for Baja-style fish tacos (lightly breaded tilapia with lime-cumin slaw and pico de gallo), queso and chips and a couple of the most wonderful house made Mexican chocolate icebox cookies imaginable.

At the Southern, I ran into a friend from Richmond who'd also been at the Black Iris show. She and some friends had been smart enough to get a room at a B & B tonight to avoid the drive home.

Note to self: do same for next C-ville show if at all possible.

Australian band Wim was the opener and they couldn't have been a better fit with Other Lives.

"We've come a very long way to entertain you," the lead singer said.

Their glam folk had a layered sound that rose up to meet his big voice (and dramatic hand gestures), but it was the four-part harmonies that won my heart.

That and the way the guitarist used a bow to play his guitar on certain songs.

The singer had a huge key chain on, noting, "It's very jangly, isn't it?  I should use it like some kind of percussive instrument."

During the break, people were talking about how interesting and well-done their set had been.

It was then that my friend introduced me to a C-ville friend she'd suggested come to the show.

We ended up chatting for a while about music and Richmond (coincidentally, he used to live on Grace Street and had some great stories about it).

He'd found Wim to be "too frou-frou" for his taste and I had to assume that it was the glam element it had.

Despite our difference in musical opinion, he was kind enough to hold my spot while I ran to the bathroom.

There, the guy in front of me in line asked if I'd decided to come out tonight just to hear music.

No, I explained, I'd come to hear Other Lives. "Oh?" he said, suddenly seeing me in a new light.

He'd seen them open for Delta Spirit a couple of years ago and had liked them so much more than the headliner.

He was thrilled to have found a kindred soul and talked my ear off about the band before disappearing into the loo.

And then Other Lives came out and I was in full swoon mode.

How do I love thee, Other Lives? Let me count the ways.

I love your castanets, your trumpet, your three violins on any given song, your harmonica, your bells, your French horn, your cello.

I love seeing the drummer put his sticks down and play the clarinet.

I love seeing one member with a guitar slung around his body, holding his violin in his left hand and playing the trumpet with his right. And that's when he wasn't playing piano or keyboards.

Sigh. That's practically a music fan's wet dream.

Unlike the last time I'd seen the band, there was no Ramones cover, but we got to hear much more of their new album, "Tamer Animals" to beautiful effect.

They closed out their set with "Desert" before bandleader Jesse came back for one solo song and the band rejoined him.

"We loved playing here for you guys," Jesse said. "It feels real, so intimate. It's important for us to experience this."

No doubt he was thinking of their upcoming gig opening for the first leg of Radiohead's tour, where the crowd won't be two feet from their faces.

But I can't complain. I've now seen them in a room with thirty people and again with maybe a hundred and been blown away both times.

No doubt they had the same effect on Radiohead.

As I drove home under a canopy of stars before I hit the bright lights of RVA, I couldn't help but think about what a stellar night it had been, both musically and with the spectacular scenery of the skies on this unseasonably warm night.

But we're all just an end to a simple thing
And it's all you see, it's all you see
We're just tamer animals

I'm with Jesse. It's important to experience these things.

My So-Called List

While 2011 wasn't my favorite year ever, it had some good music to redeem it, at least from where I stood.

So here, in no particular order, are the albums that defined the past twelve months of my life along with my rationalizations for why they captured my head and heart.

Yuck: "Yuck"
Last winter, back when a musician friend first told me how much I'd like this album, I was unprepared for how quickly it would become a mainstay in my CD player. Whether I'm making my ears bleed with Yo la Tengo-like distortion and Dinosaur Jr.-like guitars or getting moony to some sweet slower lyrics, this collection of songs has something for every one of my moods.
Favorite track: "Shook Down" because Yuck isn't just a '90s noise copycat.
The show: October at the Black Cat, here

Washed Out: "Within and Without"
A chillwave artist named Ernest sounds like the set-up for a bad joke, but I've been a fan of his beautiful sounds since I got 2010's EP "Life of Leisure" and made it my beach record. The new full-length is even lusher and longer, meaning Ernest can take me further into his world of swirling sounds.
Favorite track: "Eyes Be Closed" because it sounds like the beginning of an evening with a lover.

Wye Oak: "Civilian"
Charm City never grabbed me like it has the past few years, first with Beach House and this year with Wye Oak. These two musicians can make a lot of noise and the resulting dream pop has enough full-on shoegaze to satisfy my needs while they can also do the earnest folk-based thing to balance it out.
Favorite track: "Holy, Holy" because girls and guitars are the root of all energy.
The show: September at the National, here.


Other Lives: "Tamer Animals"
Sometimes you hear a band and it just stirs your soul. That's how I felt about Other Lives, but the first time I heard them was live and their majestic folk pop made me wish I could make time stop. There is never a throwaway note or word sung with this band and I will sing their praises to the world.
Favorite track: "Dark Horse" because horns and folk music make me swoon.
The show: October at Black Iris Studio, here.


Bon Iver: "Bon Iver"
Believe me, I hate putting something so obvious on my list but even if no one else had, I would have had to. If "For Emma, Forever Ago"  was the soundtrack to having your heart broken, this one is the sound of a man in love and so it's even more beautiful, if that's possible.
Favorite track; "Calgary" because his lyrics are poetry. "I was only for your very space." Sigh.
The show: July at the National, here

Raphael Saadiq: "Stone Rollin"
I'm happy to see how many performers are trying to keep R & B alive, or even resurrect it from what it has degenerated into. When I listen to this album, it sounds timeless to me, like it could have come from decades ago. Saadiq is mid-forties, so he may actually have memories of the music he is perpetuating. And thank god he is.
Favorite track: "Just Don't" because Stevie Wonder should always be an inspiration for the ages.

Sleepy Vikings:"They Will Find You Here"
I happened into these guys at a show and fell in love with their spacey guitars, chill drumming and overall jangly pop as they played their entire set seated. I won't deny their shoegaze influences but it's filtered through something simpler and more earnest.
Favorite track: "Calm" because it wears its emotion on its sleeve and that's a wondrous thing.
The show: June at Sprout, here.

Joy Formidable: "The Big Roar"
Last year's EP "A Balloon Called Moaning" made my best of list but I still had to put their first full length on this year's list. I worship at the altar of music from a cave and Ritzy and company deliver with an audio assault; her little girl voice and big fuzzy guitar (not to mention immense pedal board)  are the stuff my late night dreams are made of.
Favorite track: "I Don't Want to See You Like This" because it charges ahead and leaves the weak behind.
The show: March at the Black Cat, here.


I know, I know. No one else could possibly have come up with this oddball assortment of favorites and call it their best of list except me.

But in my world, it's new music that makes the world go round. Well, among other things...

My Other Life of an Evening

"Just when I think I need to move back to Brooklyn, I find out about something like this and I can't leave Richmond."


"This" was one of those perfect storms where you just had to be there.

Take a band called Other Lives who was supposed to play a three-band bill tonight, but the headliner got asked to do Letterman and they were left gig-less.

Put them in a music studio that's about to change locations and wanted an excuse for a farewell party.

Attached to the studio was a bricked-in patio area with vines covering the walls, fairly lights everywhere and a fire pit roaring in the middle of a circle of chairs.

Invite Pizza Tonight to bake endless pizzas in their mobile brick oven (I had potato rosemary and pepperoni) to accompany the beer and wine provided.

And it was all free.

The evening began on the patio under the stars with libations and mingling.

Amazingly at that point, I only recognized two people despite the crowd being bearded and plaid-shirted.

As pizzas began coming out of the oven, people helped themselves repeatedly.

I did four slices but only after a new acquaintance insisted we go up together and act nonchalant about getting our fourth.

Gluttony strength in numbers.

While chatting afterwards with an engaging guy from Pittsburgh, someone came out and said, "I hear E-Minor!"

Knowing that to be a song from Other Lives' first album, I excused myself from a very interesting conversation and went into the recoding studio for the show.

There were maybe fifty of us for this magical show.

The perfect acoustics of Black Iris Music made for a rapt audience and exquisite sound.

A latecomer told me after the show that when he walked in, he wasn't sure if he was hearing a recording or live music.

Other Lives make beautifully lush music using guitar, cello, piano, bass and drums that had the audience silent with awe for what we were hearing.

As shows go, it was audio perfection.

Lead singer Jesse's voice was deep and rich and the arrangements highlighted the ensemble-ness of the group; they were so much more than just a band.

Asking if the small crowd knew the Ramones' "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue," Jesse said, "This won't be like that. I love Burt Bacharach and I wish we had a trumpet for this."

Joey may be rolling over in his grave but their version of the punk song would have done Burt proud (Jesse noted when in the song the trumpet would have played).

After the song, he said, "We need to add that to all our sets." He had my full vote on that.

He also acknowledged that it was his first time drinking during a show due to the casual atmosphere of the event. "This is not like a real rock show and I really like it," he said.

Since they had been opening for Bon Iver on the West Coast, he knows of what he speaks.

After the mesmerizing set ended, people milled about marveling at what we'd just seen. Many people had arrived late after getting texts from early attendees about what was going on.

Now there were people I knew: members of Zep Repplica and Denali, a Listening Room photographer, a music blogger and not one but two Gallery 5 bartenders who came up and introduced themselves, saying they recognized me.

The irony there is that I almost never drink at a G5 show. Bartenders must be people watchers or else I'm in the bathroom line a little too often.

But even if I hadn't known a soul, I would have counted myself fortunate to have see Other Lives perform in such a small space.

I gave the friend who said he'd been thinking about returning to Brooklyn a hard time when he said it.

Something like this happens in RVA more than most people notice.

And there's no Pizza Tonight in Brooklyn.