Three Imaginary Girls - The Hold Steady

Lily Allen covers The Clash with Mick Jones, Hold Steady covers Bruce...

imaginary victoria — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:32:09 +0000

know we just got done with the 2008 lists, but this one's clamoring for my top compilation spot for '09 already!

Best of 2008: Top 10 Albums from Pete Greenberg of Chop Suey

ChrisB — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 20:18:16 +0000

The top 10 albums "that made my head spin (in a good way)" from Chop Suey booker Pete Greenberg.

Live At KEXP Volume Four

Chris Estey — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 07:05:08 +0000

8.5

http://www.kexp.org

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For a perfect sampler of the contemporary non-mainstream rock radio aesthetic, and rare versions of what's out there to boot, this is an essential holiday purchase (and only available for purchase through 12/31/2008).

This fourth volume of the Live At KEXP series is possibly my favorite in the series, because not only is it filled with inspired in-studio recordings from many of the best artists the beloved radio-Internet station has in rotation, but it flows with a particular rhythm and cadence that is both what makes these bands great on their own and why their strongest songs stack so well together.

Yes, Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weekend are here (be rather silly if they weren't, but the VW song is going to force me to buy the album now, after a long time of being on the sidelines in its hype-backlash war), and The Hold Steady is as well (with one of my favorite tracks of theirs already), but so is Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and Elbow's current single. Like with KEXP's broadcasting itself, it's a combination of the most progressive and appealing current indie music styles mixed with timeless and/or mature cult band presences.

One could fantasize about the Live At KEXP series having more tracks from some of the brilliant, more marginal DJ voices (shouldn't the Roadhouse and Sonarchy have limited run releases themselves, on 180 gram vinyl? Greg Vandy interview Books On Tape?). But this compilation is in no way pedestrian or redundant, as it turned me on to several performers/groups I don't always catch when listening to my favorite DJ shifts (Angelique Kidjo, Pela).

There's lots here, and if I'm still craving more, it's probably because someone is doing something right in the first place.

Very tight and exciting mix of some of the best on KEXP.

Capitol Hill Block Party 2008: The Hold Steady

Cory Banks — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:05:05 +0000

26 Jul 2008

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Two minutes into their set, I was convinced The Hold Steady were headlining Saturday night at the Block Party. The way they took the stage as the crowd went crazy made me momentarily forget there was still one more band to see. Craig Finn and the boys launched into their first song and owned the stage all through their set. I'm not sure who was happier to be there, the packed crowd or the pumped-up band.

Finn has talked about his influences in the past, with Bruce Springstein always coming up in the conversation. Yes, there's definitely a comparison to make between the E-Street Band at its height and the raucous bar-band beat that keeps Finn jumping around the stage, yelling out to the audience, throwing his arms out to the front row like he wanted to embrace them, and grinning ear to ear the whole damn time. But you know who else I was reminded of? A happy, positive Elvis Costello, comfortable with his spazz status.

I'm not normally a clapper, and any band asking me to clap double-time during a set is truly asking a lot of me. But when everyone on stage raised their skinny arms to Heaven and clapped out eighth notes, I felt my arms raising of their own accord. Enthusiasm like that cannot be contained, and The Hold Steady's pop hooks bring nothing if not rabid enthusiasm out of a crowd.

I'm not sure who was happier to be there, the packed crowd or the pumped-up band.