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Folk Alliance 2015 conference celebrates music from around the world

(Photo above of Betse and Clarke)
 
The sentimental thank you Facebook posts have all gone out. The Instagram pictures have all gotten their double tap hearts of approval. The videos of various raucous late night room parties have been shared. The hangovers have (mostly) subsided. Over the next 12 months, the hazy “remember that time at Folk Alliance when…” stories will joyously be told and retold. As most of us return to the wicked monotony of the work week, we must finally accept that the 2015 Folk Alliance International conference is over.
 
Simply put, it was an unparalleled celebration of music over the course of 6 days. For those who did not attend or are not familiar with the conference, it’s like a musical version of Disney Land AND Disney World combined into two hotels with a 4-minute skywalk in between. There was something going on most days in excess of 20 hours. You could rise early to partake in group yoga and meditation before spending the morning in seminars, classes, or the open exhibit hall. Catch a showcase or speaker in the afternoon. Head down to the lobby where a jam with musicians from 4 different continents has spontaneously busted out. As evening hits, the official showcases begin in the ballrooms. As night rolls in, one could argue the real fun begins as damn near every room on floors 5, 6, and 7 of the Westin hosts a showcase put on by organizations across the world. Partake in the various libations flowing freely throughout and wander in and out of rooms listening to hundreds of performers until the wee hours of the morn. Make a plethora of new friends from Australia, Canada, Japan, France, etc. Maybe catch a few zzz’s and then wake up and do it all over again. It is truly unbelievable the sheer amount of activity crammed into a relatively small amount of time and space. Therefore, it would be impossible to offer a full recap, but there were things that stuck out from the sensory overload. Here are some of the highlights.
 
Official KC Showcases/Local Representation
 
 
Wednesday night saw a slew of official showcases played solely by local artists. These musicians did a fine job representing the strength and variety in our music scene. Driving down to the conference, I was treated to Ruddy Swain being live broadcasted on KKFI 90.1 FM from their showcase. A stripped down version of The Latenight Callers (pictured above) offered a sultry set of noir pop tunes. Dollar Fox emerged from a somewhat lengthy hiatus with a slimmed down lineup and new musical focus towards pure rock ‘n roll.  Some of the rooms featured “in the round”-style setups with 4 artists trading performances for hour-long blocks (memorable acts included Amy Farrand, Vi Tran, Cheri Woods, Jen Harris, Ben Byard, amongst many others). The Hardship Letters closed down their room with a fantastic set of emotional rock songs.
 
Upstairs, the KC Music Collective Tower Room showcases (put together by some of the fine folks from Midwest Music Foundation, Money Wolf Music, and others deeply involved in the Kansas City arts scene) further showed that our little slice of “flyover” country is not to be ignored. Some comments coming later on specific highlights from these rooms.
 
 
 
It’s an odd thing to wander into a random hotel room around midnight and hear a group that describes itself as “a real dance-along turbo-Nordic-folk band which brings back the energy, purity, and sincerity of Estonian folk music.” Featuring a 12-string guitar, a cajon, a jaw harp and more sing-songy group vocals than you can shake a kepp at (thank you Google Translate), this trio was delightfully entertaining, also working the crowded room between each song with gusto.
 
 
 
 
(Photo by Tyler Bentson Jennings)
 
Another “I wonder what is going on in this room …” discovery, this duo from Los Angeles (real names Lee Ferris and Bianca Caruso) served up an impactful set of smartly written acoustic pop songs. The real draw here is the sensational natural blend of their vocals. Some voices just seem made for each other with the ability to weave into a singular force of vocal performance. Ferris and Caruso have found their respective vocal soulmates, the kind of perfect harmonies that send a gripping shiver down the backbone of the listener.
 
 
 
 
I caught a few minutes of their set on Wednesday night, but it was the performance on Friday that really stuck out. A little less “official,” a little more raucous, a little better sound, and a little more just all-around fun, the band took us through vast points of their catalog with the jangly precision that we’ve come to expect from the country rock sextet. Vocalists Jimmy Fitzner and Lauren Krum are another example of two voices that join forces so damn well as one. Krum also exhibits such exuberance on stage, bobbing and weaving to the groove with a warm childlike cackle that just makes you grin.
 
 
 
 
This was my first Carswell and Hope show, surprising since they are based in Lawrence and it is musically right in my wheelhouse. Songwriter and lead vocalist Nick Carswell clearly knows how to write intelligent, poignant pop songs. Dreamy and textured in all the right ways, the band behind him (especially keyboardist Austin Keys) provided the perfect complement of additional instrumentation without getting in the way of the raw beauty of the material. It ends up sounding something akin to the more recent mature work of Nada Surf or the poppier moments of the Sigur Ros catalogue. Safe to say, I will be checking them out much more moving forward.
 
 
 
 
(Photo by Michael Byars)
 
Another local artist I am kicking myself for not being more familiar with before this event, Arsenia played a very entertaining set of tunes, both while strumming a harp and a cappella. He has such an impressive appearance and performance, like folk vaudeville with a voice that is just unbelievably strong.
 
 
 
 
In an event with this sheer amount of activity, there is a good chance no two reviews will read the same. Everyone will see a different batch of performances. Everyone will look for their favorite attributes. That is the inherent beauty of an event of this magnitude.
 
That said, The HillBenders should and will end up on most Best of FAI2015 lists. It’s the age old story of bluegrass band does Tommy by the Who (my tongue firmly planted in my cheek, if you could not tell). Not selections from Tommy. The whole damn thing. Beginning to end.
 
Now, I will admit that I don’t have an avid knowledge of Tommy. I have heard the record a few times, but I would never describe it as important to me; it’s not even my favorite The Who album. The HillBenders are already fantastic in their own right, but the treatment the Springfield quintet gave Tommy was inspirational and transcendent. The musicality was there, the harmonies were brilliant, the stage presence was vigorous. They took an album featuring arguably one of the most powerful percussionists in rock ‘n roll history and blew the cover off it with no percussion whatsoever.
 
If I saw anything at the conference that I would label as “about to break,” it would be this.  
 
 
The Cody Wyoming Show
 
 
God love this man, I won’t soon forget his late night showcase in one of the KC Music Collective rooms. If ever a public event was suited to one individual, it would be Folk Alliance 2015 for Cody Wyoming. It was far from a perfect performance, but more importantly it was a perfect example of the power and purpose of our community as Wyoming invited several random musicians in the room to join his set minutes before he started. This sentiment was shown time and time again throughout the event, but it was his showcase that sticks out in that regard.
 
 
The Dollar Fox Room Party Collective
 
 
(Photo by Michael Byars)
 
Rivaling the aforementioned Wyoming for the “Who is Folk Alliance Conference 2015 best suited for?” award, what I will call the Dollar Fox Room Party Collective rolled through the various private showcase floors like bearded ball lightning, leaving a trail of empty whiskey bottles, knocked over furniture, and amazed faces in their wake. It’s hard to encapsulate (or remember) who all was involved at what points. Mostly consisting of members of various Money Wolf Music artists, it’s probably a shorter list of who wasn’t involved in the horde (hell, even I sat in with them for a set late Saturday night). In an event where it is very easy to be forgotten as “just another dude playing an acoustic guitar and singing sad songs,” this group took great care to make sure their show was special, brash and, above all else, damn entertaining. Whiskey, oh whiskey indeed…
 
 
I really could write for days about everything I saw, but those are just a few that stuck out. I am sure there were countless other wonderful performances I missed. Folk Alliance 2015 was an amazing event to experience, both as a performer and member of the media. My overall suggestion: do whatever you have to do to attend next year (and any other year you can).
 
The countdown begins. Only 357 shopping days until Folk Alliance 2016.
 
--Zach Hodson
 

Zach Hodson is a monster. He once stole a grilled cheese sandwich from a 4-year-old girl at her birthday party. He will only juggle if you pay him. I hear he punched Slimer right in his fat, green face. He knows the secrets to free energy, but refuses to release them until Saved by the Bell: Fortysomethings begins production. He is also in Dolls on Fire and Drew Black & Dirty Electric, as well as contributing to various other Kansas City-based music, comedy, and art projects. 





Recent local single reviews

 
White Girl – “M.E.T.R.O.R.O.C.K.” b/w “Cocky”
 
Brow-beating modern house beats meet 80s synth pop revival on the new 7” from White Girl. Self-described as “a dance-infused pop romp through eternal fields of post punk grasses and rolling new wave hills,” Martin Bush crafts a couple of undeniably catchy EDM tunes sure to bounce around the kids that think they are too cool for Devo.

“M.E.T.R.O.R.O.C.K.” is the A-side, not surprising given the amount of hooks, tricks, and crowd fodder thrown into five and half minutes of music. Bush’s heavily affected robotic vocals and aggressive synth choices stick out, giving the song a harder edge akin to Deadmau5 or the older reaches of the Daft Punk catalog.
 
“Cocky” starts with an uncanny and amazing 17 seconds of 8-bit NES-sounding music before it throws on a light pink blazer with shoulder pads to spare, hops in the old trusty Fiero and cruises the downtown drag of new wave. It is the more interesting song of the pair, heavily leaning on familiar tones and sensibilities with enough modern twists and turns to not sound completely dated.
 
 
 
She’s A Keeper – “Wannabe”
 
She’s a Keeper takes us down a dreamy chugglin’ rail with the new single “Wannabe.” Moving in a more indie rock direction, the symphonic layers of instrumentation we’ve been accustomed to from SAK in the past are replaced with blankets of verby guitars, ranging from bright and chimy to tarnished with overdriven grit. Beyond that, the hallmarks of the SAK playbook are more or less still present: tight vocal harmonies throughout, flickers of tasteful additional instrumentation to round out the sound (in this case the reserved plink of a piano), and deft songwriting with careful attention paid to changing, stripping down, and building back the groove several times. It shows a nice balance of consistency vs. maturation for the band and a sign of a more rocking She’s a Keeper to come.
 
 
 
Shy Boys – “Life is Peachy” b/w “Follow the Leader”
 
(Photo by Forester Michael)
 
Much in the vein of fellow Kansas City indie dream pop darlings The ACBs, Shy Boys craft a beautifully floating and meandering surfy sonic scape on its recent 7” release. The two tracks, the aforementionally-styled “Follow the Leader” and the more straightforward pop rock ear worm “Life is Peachy” provide a nice sample of what this popular area trio has to offer. Reverb upon reverb upon reverb over a solid layer of tightly crafted instrumentation push these slyly written tunes along a jangly sea breeze slip and slide. The guitar and vocal hand-holding in “Follow the Leader” especially sticks out, as well as the “Gotcha!” song pause in the middle.
 
 
 
Now Now Sleepyhead – “Influenza”
 
An interesting mix of the ‘80s pop revival, ‘90s hard rock alternative, and a little electronica, Now Now Sleepyhead premieres “Influenza,” the lead single from The Violator, a two-record concept collect due for release later this year. Backed by a mix of four-on-the-floor and the ever popular modern twist on the disco-dance rock beat, the drums are featured prominently, overshadowing the various instrumentation at times with a beating groove that will most certainly get feet and asses moving.
 
Clearly with a wink towards both the club and hardcore kids, the song features an aggressive electronic breakdown guaranteed to set off the subs. The vocals stay pure throughout, showing almost a restrained disconnect, especially in the choruses when screaming could be warranted. Overall, an exciting preview of what looks to be a highly artistic and impressive future release.
 
 
 
Microphone Jack – “I Refuse to Choose the Blues”
 
“It only aggravates our suffering to wallow in those self-indulgent blues.”
 
Local humor balladeer Microphone Jack’s latest single takes a wry shot at one of Kansas City’s time-honored traditions with “I Refuse to Choose the Blues.” Featuring a Randy Newman-esque piano and vocal styling recorded live at one of his recent shows, the simple effort hearkens back to a time when you might lay on your bedroom floor at 2 o’clock in the morning listening to the Dr. Demento show. Tom Lehrer and Stan Freiberg immediately come to mind as Microphone Jack deftly moves through his thoughts on the ironic vicious cycle of making yourself sadder by focusing on how sad you are. MJ’s self-stated mission is global transformation through funny songs. This song definitely moves him one step closer.
 
 
 
Oils – “Waves We Feel”
 
Oils knows how to make the pretty. The Lawrence-based outfit continues to flex this muscle exceedingly well on the “Waves We Feel” single release via Replay Records. One simple but powerful set of words is repeated through the verses as the instruments care to build up a dreamy dynamic centered around the ever-present bright and chimey Fender guitar sound. By the end, the whole band comes together with a sonic gut punch worthy of the longing fueled lyrics. The lo-fi quality and occasional guitar miscue only add to the overall theme of charming sincerity.
 
 
--Zach Hodson
 
Zach Hodson is a monster. He once stole a grilled cheese sandwich from a 4-year-old girl at her birthday party. He will only juggle if you pay him. I hear he punched Slimer right in his fat, green face. He knows the secrets to free energy, but refuses to release them until Saved by the Bell: Fortysomethings begins production. He is also in Dolls on FireDrew Black & Dirty Electric, and Riot Riot Riot, as well as contributing to various other Kansas City-based music, comedy, and art projects.
 
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Album review: Riot! Riot! Riot! - Dispenser (single)

Just as the sounds of popular music go through various phases and trends, so too do band names. One such example is the combination of repetitive words and exclamation points, a standard with many examples: the New Zealand noise-pop of Die! Die! Die! … the noisy Italian rawness of Tiger! Shit! Tiger! Tiger! (a personal favorite of Chris Haghirian’s) … the California dance-punk of !!! … and many others. We now have a new entry into this field: Riot! Riot! Riot!, featuring members and ex-members of such noted KC soundcrafters as Dolls on Fire, The Hillary Watts Riot, and Drew Black and Dirty Electric. The band’s debut is a two-song effort that shares the same energy and aggression as its exclamation-pointed kin. The production is raw and DIY, which serves its three-chords-and-turn-it-up-loud mission statement perfectly.
 
“Dispenser” features Zach Hodson’s abrasive guitar and emotive vocals, supported by a thunderous drum-and-bass combo of Sergio Moreno and Mark Johnson, treading the line between hard rock and punk. “So Lost In Love, My Love” starts out as a jaunty little number (yes, a band with exclamation points in its name can do jaunty) that ultimately descends into muddy, grimy depths.
 
Will Riot! Riot! Riot! be worthy of all those exclamation points? I’d like to think so, but ultimately it’s a question Mark, Sergio, and Zach will have to answer. Period.
 
And you can “quote” me.
 
--Michael Byars
 
Michael is sparing with his usage of exclamation points, but when he does, he means it! OMGRLY!
 
 

Tonight, July 30, you can catch the Riot! Riot! Riot! boys at—where else?—The Riot Room. They’ll be playing with The Summit and Trapdoor Social (LA). Show starts at 9 p.m. Facebook event page. 

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Album review: Claire and the Crowded Stage - Kamikaze

Sometimes a gimmick can trample upon the art. We have all seen it. Some band who may or may not be creating something special, only to let it take a firm back seat to a schtick. Perhaps it is an elaborate super shiny multimedia extravaganza. It might come in the form of a five-person, multi-tuned cowbell section and/or audio samples from Dr. Strangelove. These are the kinds of bands that leave the soundman sorely exclaiming, “How many mics and DIs do you need again?” before sulking off and muttering under his breath a filthy slew of words only known to the hardiest of sailors.
 
With a live set up that features up to double-digit members playing various strings, percussion and woodwinds, it would be easy for Claire and the Crowded Stage to suffer this pitfall. Thankfully, on the new album Kamikaze, the band shows masterful control of how to question the integrity of a stage’s weight limit in a way that is truly synergistic to a great whole.
 
The range of tones and sounds featured throughout make it almost unclassifiable, a truly wonderful sideshow of pop music. Kudos to the arranger (and sound engineer) for creating a roadmap and space for each part to shine in just the right way. The instrumentation is woven with a delicate and deft touch. At any given time, the listener can focus upon any of the various elements and clearly decipher what dish it brings to the dinner table. It is a symphony of rock music, like a progressive new high school band teacher fresh out of grad school choosing to close his first spring concert with a version of “Helter Skelter.”
 
At times, it is almost a rock music bait-and-switch. During the proggy break in “Songbird,” the usual scathing guitar takes a back seat in the rhythm section to let the clarinet champion the solo with splitting vigor. The single reed’s moment in the spotlight works especially well in tandem when it returns to its more traditional floaty place on the following “Night Owls,” whose side-to-side head bob groove sounds like the perfect sound track for a Tootsie Roll pop commercial. Extra points for the delightfully arbitrary reprise outro.
 
Other strong moments include the Avett Brothers-go-to-Disneyland sounds of “Tower of Babel” and the prohibition jazz speakeasy slice of noir in “Technicolor.” “I Saw it All” is perhaps the best use of the symphony style arrangement on the record, growing from simple ukulele to full orchestra pit and back again. “The Nightside of Day” finishes off the record as a delightful denouement with joyful-sounding, yet stormily-themed sock hop flair.
 
Fronting this well-oiled juggernaut is the powerfully voiced Claire Adams. Her affected vocal stylings pierce the ear in a beautiful misfit manner, ranging from a very airy and playful Regina Spektor to the soulful belt of Neko Case. Much like the success shown by the orchestra beneath her, she shows great discretion on when to play the sweet little skipping girl with cartoon hearts in her eyes and when to let fly the tortured, broken soul inside. The often-paired harmony vocals add a further power and intrigue in all the right spots.
 
As if it needed yet even another cylinder to fire upon, the lyrics are often nothing short of poetry. Lines such as:
 
Oh, I’m a boat of awkward, sinking in the shifting waters of our chemistry (from “Kamikaze”)
 
It's been a long grey time, rhymes in red, blue and yellow fighting to flash well, nobody's talking trash just pass the hat 'til someone steps up to bat sayin' I know something you don't know  (from “Technicolor”)
 
I watched the sun it rose, standing on my tiptoes to catch the moment when the day broke in halves as people live straining to love and give, it's just another tower of babel falling (from “Tower of Babel”)
 
… are just a few examples of the impactful wordsmithing flexed throughout.
 
All put together, it ends up being one damn fine record that should definitely be added to your collection. Having been fortunate enough to catch Claire and the Crowded Stage a few times in various haunts, the live show is equally as impressive. Make sure you check it out and get your own copy of Kamikaze.
 
--Zach Hodson
 
Zach Hodson is a monster. He once stole a grilled cheese sandwich from a 4-year-old girl at her birthday party. He will only juggle if you pay him. I hear he punched Slimer right in his fat, green face. He knows the secrets to free energy, but refuses to release them until Saved by the Bell: Fortysomethings begins production. He is also in Dolls on Fire,Drew Black & Dirty Electric, and Riot Riot Riot, as well as contributing to various other Kansas City-based music, comedy, and art projects.
 
Claire and the Crowded Stage will be commandeering the recordBar stage this Saturday, July 26, to celebrate the release of Kamikaze. Ali Holder & Christy Hays and Bearing Torches will open the show at 10 pm. Facebook event page.
 

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Album review: Fake Fancy - New People (EP)

Self-described as “a boy and a girl that met over their mutual love for hardcore evangelical conservative beliefs and tequila shots,” an admittedly tongue-buried-firmly-in-cheek wry ironic smile weaves itself in and out of the tracks that make up the new EP from Fake Fancy, entitled New People.

 
At its core, this is two-person, boy-meets-girl lo-fi garage pop, reminiscent of Kansas City area darlings Schwervon!, only featuring a much more prevalent electronic edge. The lazy comparisons of The Black Keys or The White Stripes could certainly be applicable as well, but there is a deeper range of tone and darkness that deserves being mentioned here. A real separation from those two aforementioned duos comes from the wholesome balance established between the melancholy David Byrne vocal stylings of John Elijah against the more pure and sunshiny Sheryl Crow sound of Katie Vah. Coupled with the witty and elevated lyrical prowess, Fake Fancy rises above being “just another two-piece indie rock band.”
 
The EP has a multiple personality disorder in the best of ways, featuring a stirring amount of variance amongst six songs that come in at a total of eleven minutes. The sweet afternoon breeze strains of “If A Man Made A Machine” and “Summer Hours” provide trancelike respites from the more avant-garde, chaotic moments in “I Have A Drum Machine” and “Mild Violence.” “We Hold Hands” and “Aqua Teen” show Fake Fancy at its best, with head-bobbing beats, tight harmonies, and accessible yet charmingly odd instrumentation firing on all cylinders.
 
Overall, this is a tidy little slice of pop music. With a sonic landscape that effortlessly bounces from Downy fresh to the kind of sticky grime you find in an old broken down engine block, Fake Fancy makes no efforts to pigeon hole itself into one kind of sound.
 
--Zach Hodson
 
Zach Hodson is a monster. He once stole a grilled cheese sandwich from a 4-year-old girl at her birthday party. He will only juggle if you pay him. I hear he punched Slimer right in his fat, green face. He knows the secrets to free energy, but refuses to release them until Saved by the Bell: Fortysomethings begins production. He is also in Dolls on FireDrew Black & Dirty Electric, and Riot Riot Riot, as well as contributing to various other Kansas City-based music, comedy, and art projects.
 
Fake Fancy will be on KKFI 90.1 FM tonight, on High Voltage Rock N’ Roll Radio Show to release the album at midnight. The band will be playing at Jackpot Music Hall on Thursday, July 31, with 2twenty2, Little Time Off, and Onward to Glory!. Check them out.
 
 
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