Missed Ed Ball, won't miss Jowe Head

Mr. Head comes to New York.
How could I have missed Ed Ball and the Times at Union Hall in Mid April! Was anybody there? Video? Photos? The Times, man, I would have given everything to see them when I was young! Ed Ball is one of the best songwriters imo, up there with Weller and Lennon and Davies. To see him live has been one of the few remaining names on my list of artists yet to see live, like Julian Cope.

So I defintely won't miss Jowe Head with the Mad Scene + The Surprisers + Cuffs at Bruar Falls, tonight at 8pm. 245 Grand St (between Driggs Ave and Roebling St) Jowe Head spent time in two of the U.K.'s coolest underground bands: Swell Maps and Television Personalities. Nuff said.

Small Beats Number 110 This Monday!

Hey Small Beast Fighters - come see and hear an d be part of the 110th edition, this Monday, April 18th, tax day, yay! Enjoy spring at the unique Delancey lounge with..

8.30pm
Mollie King
http://www.myspace.com/mollieking



Singer, guitarist, songwriter. Moving from Fairyland on top of Lookout Mountain, Georgia to New York at the age of 17, she soon became the singer and lyricist for many different bands back in the day on the Lower East Side, including the jazz/hip-hop/metal of Kingstone and was the first lead singer in the psych/blues/improv of Elliot Sharp’s band Terraplane. If you’ve never seen and heard Mollie before, you’re either not interested in contemporary music at all or you’re not a New Yorker.

9.15PM
Swoon
http://www.swoontheband.com



Quite a few sites and stations have been swooning about Swoon’s new, just released record “Backwards & Forwards”. This is their first show after the record release, one with all the pressure off of the fine band’s chest, ready to lose themselves in their music. Be prepared for heartfelt, deep pop-rock with an easily accessible big sound and remarkable lyrics.

10.00PM
The Roman Games
http://www.myspace.com/theromangames



Roman Game is a Swiss Troubadour chronicling New York since the Nineties, an observer of everyday life with an eye for the unexpected, a knack for raising questions and taking wrong turns, but finding a way home in the end. He is also the singer in Room, a multinational collective of alternative musicians who find their way to New York every so often. He will bring friends and guests to the stage.

10.45PM
Dying in Motion
http://www.myspace.com/dyinginmotion



Dying in Motion are a Swiss punk band who are touring the U.S. this month. Their stop at the Delancey is an experiment for them, too: The quartet will do without their fifth member, Extreme Loudness, at the Small Beast. In their own words: “We are four friends from Zurich, Switzerland. We play screamo hardcore. We are into DIY. We are here to share the love and passion we put into our music with other nice people.” Let’s find out.

11.30PM
DJ Pablo Martin
Pablo Martin spins his no wave /post punk 25 cent vinyl collection

The Sword and the Bear Cross Paths

Anton Sword leading the We Ours into prime time

Double duty for drummer beauty Kristin Mueller again: At Union Hall, Anton Sword and the We Ours shared a bill with Lucinda Black Bear. Sword is in finest form these days, the ladies from the rhythm section really click. Julian's guitar could have been a bit louder and harder, in my poor punky opinion. Why Christian Gibbs and his bear comrades are not filling stadiums yet will remain a mystery to me to the day they do fill stadiums.

Lucinda Black Bear at Union Hall, with a little help from their frANT.

The Feelies Doing Wire

With the upcoming Feelies shows and new album and the amazing Wire gig past week, who knew this connection?

Williamsburg Totally Wire'd!

Colin Newman charming Williamsburg. Picture by Edwina Hay

Proof is here: It is possible to make sharp, edgy, intelligent, relevant rock music even when you're older than fifty. British punk pioneers Wire were all that and harmonious, original and graceful on top of that at the Williamsburg Hall of Music on Tuesday night. While they played almost all the songs from their new album, the exquisite Red Barked Tree, there were few highlights from other periods of the band, most notably 'Map Ref' and 'Two People' from 154 and 'Kidney Bingos' and 'Drill' from their 80's incarnation, back when Bruce Gilbert was in the band. He is now replaced by a quite younger, but talented and decent left-handed guitar player.
General Graham Lewis attacking the bass. Pic. E. Hay.

Follow me, no explanation, as Graham Lewis sings on "Bad Worn Things"? Seems to me, these gentlemen well deserve the "over-crowded nature of things" at their fan base at the moment. Their new material is as strong as anything they put out over their influential career of almost 35 years, their songwriting rivaled by nobody. Well maybe by Weller, Cornwell, Kilbey and a few select others.

Robert Gotobed looking exactly like that's where he wants to go. Pic by E. Hay
I attach the setlist (with thanx for the picture below to the Brooklyn Vegan) below, so people in Europe can compare if they play the same songs over here. I would expect so. Many thanks to Edwina Hay, whose concert photography I recommend: www.thisisnotaphotograph.com.