Friday: Fountain Square Offers Double Whammy
Sure, the bulk of the city spent last week enjoying an early February spring break courtesy of the NFL’s biggest spectacle, but now is not the time to recede into the proverbial tortoise shell. On Friday, Fountain Square will host a pair of buzz worthy concerts.
Local band Everything, Now! will celebrate the release of their album Do It on the Moon at Radio Radio. Fellow Naptown natives America Owns the Moon, Vacation Club and Learner Dancer will be on hand to lend support. The event should be a nice showcase of some of Indianapolis’ strongest independent acts. Admission is free, and the festivities kick off at 9 PM. Listen to “Fire and the Stone” by Everything, Now! below.
Across the street, White Rabbit Cabaret will play host to Louisville’s Cheyenne Marie Mize and Andrew Combs. Mize released her latest album We Don’t Need at the end of January. The six-song effort is arguably her strongest material to date, built around lively rhythms and Mize’s stellar voice. Watch a live video of “It Lingers” for a sampling of what Friday promises.
Though I’m thrilled to see Mize, I’m just as excited by the opportunity to catch Combs. We featured a video from his Live & Reel session a while back. Combs is a Nashville singer-songwriter with tremendous potential. His debut EP, Tennessee Time, represents the best of what country music has to offer – bringing to mind some of Music City’s founding fathers. Tickets are $10 and available from MOKB Presents.
There is no sense in stumbling into a Super Bowl slump now that the nation’s eyes have returned to the coasts. A steady stream of good shows are on the way. Join me this Friday as I bounce back and forth between The Rabbit and Radio Radio. With a double dose, how can we lose?
Written by Rob Peoni
Fresh Track + Video: The Return of Earl Sweatshirt
Thebe Kgositsile AKA Earl Sweatshirt is back. The 17 year-old member of California hip-hop collective OFWGKTA has returned home from his exile at Samoa’s Coral Reef Academy. News of Earl’s return began to circulate yesterday when Odd Future point man Tyler, the Creator announced, “Oh. Thebe Has….I Mean Earl Has A Twitter. @earlxsweat”
Shortly thereafter, Earl dropped a video (see below) featuring a snippet of his aptly titled “Home,” promising to release the song in its entirety when the video had reached 50,000 views. Before the clock struck midnight, Earl made good on his promise. Via twitter, the rapper provided fans a link to terttlefer.com where a stream of “Home” awaited.
The track is a flowing, chorusless stream-of-consciousness that will sound familiar to fans of Earl’s self-titled debut. The artist’s return rant rolls on for just under 2 minutes before the beat cuts and Earl’s voice chimes in, “Annnnnd…I’m back.”
Welcome home, Earl.
Connect with Earl Sweatshirt via Twitter | Facebook
Written by Rob Peoni
Fresh Track: Oupa & Tony Crow “Backwords” (Porcelain Raft Cover)
Oupa is the side project of Yuck frontman Daniel Blumberg. We featured his cover of Smog’s “It’s Rough” in December. Mauro Remiddi of Porcelain Raft directed a video for the song. Oupa has returned, this time with Tony Crow of Lambchop and Silver Jews fame. Today, Boiled Egg released the duo’s cover of Porcelain Raft’s “Backwords” from the recently released Strange Weekend. The cover is stark and minimalist in comparison to the original, trading an undercurrent of distortion and synths for a simple piano line. The results showcase the strength of Remiddi’s writing and reaffirm my belief that Oupa is a project worth paying attention to. Listen below:
Connect with Oupa via Facebook | Twitter
Written by Rob Peoni
Thought on Tracks 