Video, Missoula News

Unhiply square

Dan Brooks — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Huey Lewis, Sports and hitting it big by Dan Brooks Last month, Huey Lewis recreated the iconic scene from American Psycho in which Wall Street sociopath Patrick Bateman, played by Christian Bale, speaks rapturously about the musical genius of Huey Lewis. In a parody video for Funny Or Die, Lewis mimics Bale's original facial expressions with uncanny accuracy, praising the consummate professionalism of Sports before he hits Weird Al Yankovic with an ax.…

Rough-hewn

Kate Whittle — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

The Grizzled Mighty doesn't play nice by Kate Whittle Seattle duo The Grizzled Mighty is sometimes billed as "blues rock," but the description doesn't quite hit the mark. My mother likes blues rock, and my mother would not care for The Grizzled Mighty.…

Sera Cahoone

Brooks Johnson — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Deer Creek Canyon by Brooks Johnson Sera Cahoone is stationed in Seattle, but her basic Americana sounds more like a drive around the Olympic Peninsula in autumn. The extended guitar picking, the ease with which she turns from poetry to guitar slide to near-bluegrass—it all sounds familiar but sprawling.…

Uncluded

Dan Brooks — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Hokey Fright by Dan Brooks Aesop Rock's opening verse on "Delicate Cycle," the third single from Uncluded's Hokey Fright, is a thicket of rhymed spondees that is maybe about having parts of your body amputated. Then Kimya Dawson, the former member of The Moldy Peaches who is the other half of Uncluded, chimes in with a verse about working in her parents' laundromat, and the whole thing snaps into focus.…

Fall Out Boy

Brooks Johnson — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Save Rock and Roll by Brooks Johnson Considering the context of this album—the resurrection of a pop-punk-turned-pop-star band three years into a hiatus—it's not half bad. Fall Out Boy has always done well to capitalize on the sounds of the time.…

Rachel Maddow calls out white "nationalist" nonprofit in Flathead

Alex Sakariassen — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:56:00 -0600

Late last week, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow took a deep look at a white supremacist think tank in the Flathead Valley and its ties to the nation's ongoing debate over immigration reform. Her May 9 segment called out a Whitefish-based nonprofit known as the National Policy Institute, a group that bills itself as "an independent research and educational foundation" working for "the people that bears the unique heritage of Europe, Christianity, cultural excellence, and the scientific awakening"—or, more concisely, "White Americans."…

Great expectations

Jason McMackin — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

King Elephant: two songs, one big deal by Jason McMackin King Elephant is kind of a big deal. At shows, I've watched as young folks file forward to get close to the band—close enough to be spat upon by guitarist/vocalist Joey Running Crane, who spasms and convulses in a vain effort to make the microphone stand join him for a dance.…

Frodie

Erika Fredrickson — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Petals of a Rose by Erika Fredrickson On his new album, Petals of a Rose, Frodie finds a million different adages and metaphors—including the rose—to tell us life's too short. Here's the thing: The rose as a metaphor has withered.…

Mike Bader Bearjam

Jed Nussbaum — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Worldwide Blues by Jed Nussbaum For many, the blues is the music of suffering and lament, heartless women and midnight handshakes with Beelzebub. Judging by the syrupy notes that drip from Mike Bader's guitar and the positivity in his gravel moan, the Montana bluesman's tunes have more to do with the power of music and backyard barbecues.…

Thao and the Get Down Stay Down

Kate Whittle — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

We the Common by Kate Whittle It's a tough feat to collage multiple layers of instrumentation into something cohesive, let alone enjoyable, but Thao and the Get Down Stay Down manage it nicely on their new album, We the Common. It's quirky pop, like their previous three releases, but the San Francisco-based band seems to get more adventurous with every step.…

Charles Bradley

Kate Whittle — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Victim of Love by Kate Whittle I forget how I ended up watching Charles Bradley's set at Sasquatch last year. What I do remember is, after a day of watching pretty musicians strumming for seas of mostly white hipster kids drinking $14 beers, I was thrilled to see someone stride out on the stage with some real soul.…

The Vignettes

Brooks Johnson — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

by Brooks Johnson The Vignettes' "This is a Song About Rock and Roll" is pretty meta. Coming in at under two minutes, the recording is a mash-up of all of rock's greatest assets: a loud guitar, a nonstop drumset and winding, indiscernible lyrics about the genre itself.…

Iron Lung

Kate Whittle — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

White Glove Test by Kate Whittle If anyone has ever taken a sledgehammer to the idea that minimalist music needs to all be Phillip Glass-style violins and high art, it is the beautifully brutal Iron Lung. On its latest album, White Glove Test, the Seattle duo unleashes fury that is as stimulating as it is strangely soothing, like taking a shot of whiskey.…

King Elephant tour documentary details adventures on the road

Erika Fredrickson — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:30:10 -0600

It's not often that a band tour documentary begins with the band members wanting to go home. In Tim Goessman's new film about Missoula band King Elephant, the first words we hear are, "We're in fuckin' danger" as we see the tour van with a smashed in window.…

Lucid dreaming: Q&A with Synthetic Spring actor Jeff Medley

Erika Fredrickson — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:05:00 -0600

A Synthetic Spring, a one-time-only art/dance/performance event, goes up tonight at the Crystal Theatre. It's the MFA show of artist Jack Metcalf.…

The Moustache Bandits

Brooks Johnson — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

by Brooks Johnson There's a real swell cowboy bar outside of Bozeman called Stacey's. It's a cowboy bar because actual cowboys/girls frequent and run the place.…

Thee Oh Sees

Brooks Johnson — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Floating Coffin by Brooks Johnson Thee Oh Sees' latest album is as weird as its cover art. The kaleidoscope of strawberries and fangs is both succulent and startling: kind of like heartburn for your eyes.…

Rep. Curtis tells it straight on YouTube

Alex Sakariassen — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:45:00 -0600

When Rep. Amanda Curtis, D-Butte, arrived in Helena in January, her 10-year-old laptop was on the verge of crashing. She used a technology stipend available to all legislators to purchase a new Toshiba laptop, but felt guilty about getting it “on the taxpayer’s dime.”

“When I opened it up and saw that it had Windows 7 and this really easy movie maker,” she says, “I realized I could use this stipend to do something of substance for my constituents, and ease my conscience.”

Curtis opens that laptop every evening after leaving the Capitol and dishes about the business of the day in video updates she then posts on YouTube.…

Kurt Vile

Nate Hegyi — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Wakin on a Pretty Daze by Nate Hegyi 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.…

All hail the Party King

Kate Whittle — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Andrew W.K. spreads the gospel of celebration by Kate Whittle Everything rocker Andrew W.K. does is informed by a singular philosophy: "the power of partying." Whether it's tweeting daily party advice, delivering motivational speeches, owning a nightclub, shilling for Taco Bell or offering the soundtrack to Playtex Fresh + Sexy Wipes commercials, W.K. does everything with a remarkably upbeat attitude.…

Softer sounds

Erika Fredrickson — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Get a feel for The Quiet One's daydreamy rock by Erika Fredrickson 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.…

Medusa

Ira Sather-Olson — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Whr's the DJ Booth? by Ira Sather-Olson 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.…

Agatha

Brooks Johnson — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

LP by Brooks Johnson 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.…

Get the steak taste out: Griz have one last "Shining Moment"

Jamie Rogers — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:51:00 -0600

By and large, the Montana Grizzlies kicked butt this season. Dating back to 2011-12, they won a school-record 25 straight conference games and finished the season with a 19-1 Big Sky record.…

Back in the garage

Dan Brooks — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

White Mystery cuts to rock's core by Dan Brooks After listening to several tracks from its forthcoming Telepathic, I can say confidently that White Mystery is my favorite nuclear-family garage duo with "White" in the name. Also, I hate the White Stripes.…