[music]
Softer sounds
[redux]
Get a feel for The Quiet One’s daydreamy rock The last time I saw The Quiet Ones was in 2005 at Crazy Daisy’s thrift store in downtown Missoula. It was a rainy Saturday night and the band of two brothers, John and David Totten, had wrangled a handful of local musicians—Burke Jam and some members of Oblio Joes—to join them in playing some dreamy minor-key pop rock and campfire anti-folk. The Tottens had moved to Missoula earlier that year from Tennessee, and they left Missoula before the year was out to live in Seattle. Many bands have gone a similar path, only to fall apart, absorb into other groups or, if they’re lucky, be made kings. (Crazy Daisy’s disappeared, too.) The Quiet Ones survived. Not only that, but the brothers added four musicians and released more albums, including this year’s Molt in Moments. The Quiet Ones’ music isn’t quiet. If it is, it’s in the way Reigning Sound or Secret Powers are quiet: powerful and welling, but something you can daydream to. Trying to come up with comparisons is an entertaining exercise. “Holy Lover” could be sung while roasting marshmallows at a lake, but it has an edginess that hints at Nirvana and Liz Phair. The ballad “Mountain Moments” explores an earthier, more
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mystical folk narrative: “There is hope and fear and joy in things that make us tremble, dear. And in the darkness, sometimes light is there.” Molt in Moments is the kind of album that feels a little amorphous at the beginning, refusing obvious pop hooks to guide you like a paint-by-numbers song. You have to find your way, just as you do in the dark. Let your eyes and ears adjust. That’s when the album really shines. (Erika Fredrickson) The Quiet Ones plays the Palace Sat., April 13, at 9 PM with Marty Marquis of Blitzen Trapper. $10/$7 in advance at Ear Candy and stonefly-productions.com.
5-6 PM // Family Friendly Hour: bring something special to show & share with the group 7 PM // How MAM Collects discussion with curators 8 PM // UM’s Media Arts will share short films Enjoy hors d’oeuvres from the James Bar, and a cash bar. $5 suggested donation; MAM Members always get in FREE!
free expression. free admission.
335 N. Pattee // missoulaartmuseum.org // 406.728.0447 Tuesday - Friday 10AM - 5PM // Saturday - Sunday 12PM - 5PM
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Medusa, Whr’s the DJ Booth? It only takes a few listens to realize that Medusa is not to be trifled with. The Los Angeles-based MC spits a soulful and commanding flow that’s infectious. She’s also a strong woman with a sharp mind, and those who dig fellow female MCs like Jean Grae and Psalm One will find plenty to love. Medusa’s raps are perceptive and clever, and often play with complex rhyme arrangements. On “Whr My Ladies At?” off her most recent release, Whr’s the DJ Booth?, she serves up empowerment through crafty rhymes like “Educate, focus, no lies/you can get enough, but don’t get dickmatized.” If her lyrics weren’t convincing enough, it’s worth noting that this self-proclaimed “Gangsta Goddess” is
We are asking everyone in Missoula to SHOW us what you collect, and SHARE it with the community. Art4All: Show and Share is your chance to participate in a community based installation. This evolving sculpture will be just as eclectic as our own community! Add to the sculpture until its completion on May 19. Write about your piece and post it near the sculpture or record a cell phone talk. For more information visit missoulaartmuseum.org.
something of a maven in the West Coast underground hip-hop scene. Aside from shows with luminaries like KRS-One and Public Enemy, Medusa got her start some 20-plus years ago rapping at L.A.’s The Good Life Cafe and later as part of the Project Blowed Collective—both of which launched the careers of Jurassic 5 and Aceyalone. That means she’s practically a hip-hop legend. Her albums, including Whr’s the DJ Booth?, might not be mainstream chart-toppers, but given her dedication to independent hip-hop, she likely wouldn’t have it any other way. (Ira Sather-Olson) Medusa plays the Palace on Mon., April 15, at 9 PM with Myka9 and local openers. $5/$10 for ages 18-20.
Agatha, LP This is not your grandma Agatha’s favorite album, unless your grandma raised you on power chords. This Seattle quartet is punk only the Northwest could produce, with its hands-in-your-pockets-while-it-rains tonality and boundless minor chords. Like At the Drive-In or Sparta before their edges were dulled, Agatha harkens back to those lovely days when everything was “post-punk” this or “post-hardcore” that. But it’s far from post-anything, aside from the rough polish done in post-production on the band’s first full-length, LP. Unlike many modern DIY
outfits, Agatha isn’t afraid to let you actually hear what specific chords and riffs it’s playing. And it definitely wants you to sing along to “Agitate for the class war!” Yet LP isn’t a clean record, like Rumbletowne labelmate RVIVR’s latest effort. When Agatha sings, “We think in a language of violence,” it’s played violently, too. If it doesn’t get you riled up, you need to take your earplugs out. (Brooks Johnson) Loma Prieta, Agatha, Night Nurses and King Elephant play the VFW on Mon., April 15, at 9 PM. $5/$7 under 21. All ages.
Kurt Vile, Wakin on a Pretty Daze Philadelphia musician Kurt Vile injects classic rock with a heavy dose of early-’90s noise a la Sonic Youth and the best fingerpicking this side of Burt Jansch. Like his former band, The War on Drugs, he is a master at massaging pop songs into meditative anthems for stargazers everywhere. His latest record is a psychedelic marathon powered by 8-bit drums and frenetic guitars–an endurance test more exciting than excruciating. Songs evoke thunderstorms as they meander and flare and howl. Pedal steel washes everything in AM-radio gold.
“I wanna live all the time in my fantasy infinity, where I will never be abandoned,” he pleads in the menacing “Girl Called Alex,” before punctuating the next “I wanna…” with a smack of pissed-off guitar. It’s the sound of an artist getting older but not softer. The self-loathing heard on previous albums isn’t as present here–Vile recently became a father and his worries center on his family more. “There comes a time in every man’s life when he’s gotta take hold of the hand that ain’t his / but it is,” he says. The line kills me every time I hear it. (Nate Hegyi)
missoulanews.com • April 11 – April 18, 2013 [19]