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Thursday, April 29, 2010
CD review: The Tallest Man on Earth ‘The Wild Hunt’
The Tallest Man on Earth
‘The Wild Hunt’
(Dead Oceans)
Grade: A
“There is a crow moon coming in where you keep looking out,” Kristian Matsson, aka The Tallest Man on Earth, sings to begin his latest release, “The Wild Hunt.” With the nasally rasp of his voice, and the folky, literary bent of his lyrics, Matsson has drawn comparisons to the early work of a certain famous American songsmith from Minnesota.
When it comes to both content and style, the similarities are strong. The album is mostly Matsson and his guitar, and the songs generally fall into the realm of folk-infused blues, but there is something about the music that pushes him beyond categorization as a knockoff. The fact that it’s hard to say exactly what that is that distinguishes the music is part of its charm. Perhaps it is the way in which Matsson subtly plays with rhythm—a pause or a quick little staccato run in conversation with his guitar—that helps define his character. He is his own showman, and on tracks like centerpiece “King of Spain,” he sings with an intensity that feels at times as if he’s addressing each of his listeners personally.
He’s also a bit of an impressionist, weaving together abstract lyrics to paint a vivid picture. On “Love is All,” for example, he tells the story of a soured romance, singing “now spikes will keep on falling from the heavens to the floor/the future was our skin and now we don’t dream anymore.” Like Bon Iver, the Tallest Man on Earth doesn’t necessarily need his lyrics to make too much sense, as they are only one part of the equation.
The Tallest Man on Earth plays Sunday at 10 p.m. at Stubb’s BBQ (inside). Tickets $10-$12.
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Ghostland Observatory’s Behrens to lead high school workshop
Aaron Behrens, he of the astonishingly tight jeans and otherworldly howl, will lead students at Anderson High School in a songwriting workshop May 14. The program is part of a regular series of writing workshops presented by Austin Batcave, a nonprofit organization that encourages creative writing and was modeled on 826 Valencia, a San Francisco nonprofit launched by acclaimed writer Dave Eggers.
Behrens isn’t the first Austin musician to join up with Austin Bat Cave — Bill Baird and the Eastern Sea, among others, have presented similar workshops, while Austinist writer William Mills led a music journalism workshop last fall. The songwriting program will be presented to students in the school’s AVID — Advancement Via Individual Determination — program, a college preparatory initiative.
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Pat Green to play ACL Fest
Thanks to alert reader Bernard V. for sending this link that shows that a certain country cherub will return to the festival that he co-headlined in 2002, its first year.
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Sarah Jarosz shines on the ‘Austin City Limits’ studio
Hat tip to colleague Matthew Odam over on his blog the MO, who attended Tuesday night’s taping of the Sarah Jarosz and Steve Martin episode of “Austin City Limits.” Martin’s set was a condensed version of his Sunday night show at the Long Center, but Odam has nothing but good things to say about bluegrass phenomenon Jarosz.
“When she introduced a song that she wrote as a response to Hurricane Katrina - Broussard’s Lament - it took me a second to do the math,” writes Odam. “Katrina was in 2005. Jarosz was 14 at the time. The righteous, passionate lines from this devil-went-down-to-New Orleans tune were not the work of your typical high school student.”
Surf over to the MO for the whole recap. The episode will air in October.
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Weekend picks: Wistful songwriting, Irish treasure and a new venue on display
FRIDAY
Van Morrison at Bass Concert Hall.Well, here’s take two — Morrison got us all excited back when he was scheduled to play Bass in January, but canceled, citing that ever-present source of trouble for musicians, ‘exhaustion.’ That was mere weeks after Morrison weathered rumors of an illegitimate child by tour manager Gigi Lee. Fortunately, the idiosyncratic Irish treasure is feeling more up to things now and will bring his classic catalog to audiences at long last. Anybody want to take bets on the over-under that he’ll play ‘Moondance’? 8 p.m. $85-$350. 2350 Robert Dedman Drive. texasperformingarts.com. — Patrick Caldwell
Also recommended:
- KVRX presents ‘Lights Out!’ at Seaholm Power Plant
- Owen Pallett and the Great Nostalgic at the Mohawk
- Mono and Balmorhea at Emo’s
- Zeale at the Beauty Bar
- the Dead Weather at Stubb’s (technically sold out)
- the Scabs at Antone’s
- Leo Kottke at the Paramount Theatre
SATURDAY
First Look Festival at the New Backyard at Bee Cave. Here’s a great chance to check out Tim O’Connor’s new, bigger baby, with alleged parking galore. Such acts as Carolyn Wonderland, Gary P. Nunn, Walt Wilkins, Dan Dyer, W.C. Clark and on and on, will keep the music going from noon to midnight, but the biggest draw will be the 38-acre venue, still billing itself as ‘three songs from downtown,’ though in today’s traffic those songs are from ‘Hot Buttered Soul.’ Tix are $25, but $10 off by using the promo code ‘twolawnmowers.’ 13472 Bee Cave Parkway. thebackyard.net. — Michael Corcoran
Also recommended:
- Those Darlins at the Continental
- Nashville P at Red Eyed Fly
- Dr. Dog and Deer Tick at Emo’s
- Jimmy LaFave at the Cactus
- Minor Mishap Marching Band at Ruta Maya
- Norah Jones at Stubb’s (sold out)
- Foot Patrol at Antone’s
SUNDAY
Norah Jones at Stubb’s. Even on record, where she’s free to augment her tracks with as many sonic layers as possible, Norah Jones has had difficulty evading that ‘Snorah’ Jones label. So it’s been especially challenging for her to be engaging and energetic. But if any album could help her shake off the cobwebs live, it’s last year’s ‘The Fall,’ a rightfully acclaimed piece of work that finds Jones in fine, genre-bending form. With Sasha Dobson. 6 p.m. $41.50. 801 Red River St. stubbsaustin.com. — Patrick Caldwell
Also recommended:
- The Tallest Man on Earth at Stubb’s
- Junior Brown and Tanya Rae at the Continental Club
- Darren Hoff and the Hard Times at Momo’s
