Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Claptrapped.

There are several Halloween shows going on in Chicago this weekend. I am going to see The Monster's of Folk but all I can think about is what musical costume Phish will be wearing out in California. The band is playing Festival 8 out there and has promised to cover one of the following albums. What album do you think they should do? Something old? Something new? Something weird? Just please not something by Michael Jackson!

Past Phish Halloween "costumes" have included the Beatles ('The White Album'), the Who ('Quadrophenia'), the Talking Heads ('Remain in Light') and the Velvet Underground ('Loaded').

UPDATE: THEY PLAYED THE ROLLING STONES: EXILE ON MAIN STREET

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

A few months ago I opened an issue of Rolling Stone and saw a two page picture of whats posted to the right. It was the "Artist to watch" section. The picture alone had me intrigued because I have always had an affinity for what I guess I would call family bands. Its mostly groups that seem to eat, sleep, and live together at all times, but its really more about harmonizing and hitting joyous climaxes in songs...in unison. You know groups like The Beach Boys, The Jackson 5, The Mamas and Papas, The Grateful Dead, and even The Everly Brothers. Confusing lineup eh? Anyway, these guys looked like relatives of Devandra Banhardt but slightly-less weird. They look like your average run of the mill hippies instead of far-out cultist freaks. In other words not scary hippie. I continued to read and was even more perplexed to find out that there is not an Edward Sharpe in the band. The lead singer used to be the lead man of a punk/dance band called Ima Robot. This band did not look like they used anything with electricity besides a microphone. I had to listen to this. Their debut is called 'Up From Below'. At first listen I loved it. They are basically a psychedelic folk band reveling in the old styles of the aforementioned family bands. Its a bit 'chanty' and over joyous but is no doubt a record even your Mom might like. The first track "40 Day Dream" is very Motown and before you know it you are singing along to the chorus line " the magical mystery kind"! There are some who would discount Ed Sharpe and the Mag Zeros as a group making nostalgic music as a gimmick, especially given the lead singers background, but I dare you to not let this record grow on you. It seems like it was meant to be listened to on whole, but if you want a quick pick me up try out songs like "Home" and "Jangling".


They are playing at Lincoln Hall on November 27th.


MP3 "40 Day Dream"

Portugal. The Man - Schubas

Last Saturday was a day I was looking forward to for some time and it did not disappoint. Finally we were able to see Portugal. The Man at a small venue -- Schubas on Belmont and Southport. They had a hell of a performance at Lollapalooza in front of a much larger crowd, so I could not wait to see them at Schubas. Since they were playing to their core fans, I definitely felt a difference in music style. They seemed to experiment a bit more with their sound while still sounding tight. John Gourley came on stage of course with the patented hooded sweatshirt and his usual small talk in front of the sold-out crowd. They started the concert off in a way that would make any jam band proud. Portugal also pulled out some out-of-the-blue transitions to MGMT and Three Dog Night. They had a pretty good mix of songs from their four albums, which I was thrilled to hear. By the end, the four members from Alaska went through their set flawlessly and then came back on stage for the encore and rocked out to"Chicago" from their first album "Waiter: You Vultures!" It seemed to be a perfect way to come back from an encore. Overall the show had a ton of energy and emitted soul, rock, and psychedelic influences. I thought they really impressed the Chicago crowd.

The band afterwords hung around and took some pictures with us, which you don't see every day. Thanks for the great concert, Portual. The Man!

Below is a video from the sold-out show on Sunday at Schubas performing "1989" and "Our Way."

Zero 7: Yeah Ghost

I discovered this little band about 4 or 5 years ago just on a whim. I was just getting into downtempo electronic stuff at the time and happened upon Zero 7's The Garden. I had never heard a note of these guys and the cover looked interesting so, I picked it up. What I heard can only be described as infectious, warm, tight little songs just oozing out of my speakers. I later found out that this band was featured heavily in the movie Garden State. I have been a huge fan ever since. On their most recent Yeah Ghost, Zero 7 makes new inroads into their musical style. While mostly being known for Sneaker Pimps-like droning, catchy tunes, this time around they go for a more upbeat poppy sound. The core of Zero 7 is England's Henry Binns and Same Hardaker who have a flair for switching back and forth between acoustic instruments and electronic ones.

Sia Furler, an ever constant contributor is absent from this effort, however, newcomer Eska Mtungwazi lends her voice to a couple of tunes on the album. The first being "Swing", a song that seems taylor made for an ipod commercial, along with "Ghost sYMbOL", and aptly-named, haunting ditty that plays tricks with her voice. The high point of the album for me is "Everything Up (Zisou)", a track where Binns is credited as the vocalist. Something about the way his voice mixes with the foot tapping pace of the song has made it one of my most replayed songs currently.

Zero 7 always has a way of creating works of art that stay in my head and my stereo for large amounts of time and I think it would do most anyone lots of good to give these guys a listen. I do suggest however starting with their older stuff and going from there so you can follow the evolution a bit closer. This album on its own is probably the weakest effort by Zero 7... But that doesn't necessarily mean it has any less impact.

EDIT: Zero 7 will be playing at Metro on December 4th.

ALL of you should go.

Sunset Rubdown: Dragonslayer

I was pretty excited when I bought Sunset Rubdown's latest album, "Dragonslayer," earlier this summer (still can't get over that summer is over). It had received solid reviews from many sources, and I was already a pretty big fan of their album "Shut Up I am Dreaming." However, I just could not get into this album the first few times through. It couldn't grab my attention.

As you may or may not know, I am a big Wolf Parade fan. Spencer Krug -- keyboardist/co-frontman of Wolf Parade -- heads Sunset Rubdown, and I think this may have been where my initial disappointment originated. I wanted to hear Wolf Parade, but I wasn't getting it.

"Dragonslayer" is not Wolf Parade. It's a little magical, almost giving me a "medieval" feel -- like the music could accompany a story of kings , and knights and serfs and (yes) dragons. It does feature the classic Krug "Oh's" and "Ah's," as well as some strikingly visual lyrics. ("Hope that you died in a decent pair of shoes./You got a lot of long walking to do.")

This album has really grown on me in the past month. Once I stopped wanting it to be something it wasn't, it really set in, and now I find myself listening to it in entirety -- multiple times in a row. There are only 8 tracks, but each is a decent length, and each kind of tells its own story. The one song I don't dig all that much is the 10-minute final track -- "Dragon's Lair" (but I do love the word play of the song title).

So I'd say give this album a shot. It might not stick at first, but can definitely grow on you.

You can listen to the album on the band's Myspace page.

You're All Idiots

Craig's right. We're all idiots; any other way you choose to look at this would just be wrong. How else do you explain the Jonas Brothers, Hannah Montana, Britney Spears, The NOW Cds, Daughtry, U2, Kelly Clarkson? Crap all of it. Has music or musical taste always been this bad? Growing up I can remember my 'sister' listening to jokes such as MC Hammer and NKOTB, and I'm sure there was a bit more crap floating around those days. Going back further I'm not going to touch the 70s and 80s, and corporate boy bands have always existed or at least as early as The Monkees, but lately it seems to be coming at exponential rates. I get a chill up my spine when even considering where we might be without the Internet giving life to independent labels. Without it would we be forced, even more so, to consume the likes of American Idols, Light Rock, and Disney Channel chastity rock? This is a problem, I can't just be imagining things.

The questions keep coming. Who's responsible for this? Is censorship winning? Illegal downloads: helping or hurting? Pearl Jam at Target? Wilco teaming up with the Chicago Blackhawks? Starbuck's Cds? Super Bowl Halftimes?

Okay I realize the last paragraph or so may have been a little if not completely confusing, but my question is simple: Is music decomposing in front of us? If so, whose fault is it and how can it be stopped?