As I said yesterday:

some of the more ridiculous and amazing shows I’ve been to have been by the Mountain Goats. Lead man John Darnielle controls an audience like no one else and with hundreds of songs at his disposal, the shows are always different and fun.

Tickets are sold out for the Mountain Goats’ Thursday (10/23) show at the Independent, but they’re still available for Friday’s show at the Fillmore. And I have a pair of tickets to give away to a lucky ipickmynose reader.

Mountain Goats - Fall of the Star High School Running Back (mp3)

To enter to win a pair of tickets to this show, email contest [at] ipickmynose [dot] com by 11:59pm Thursday October 23 with “Mountain Goats” in the subject line. The winner will be chosen at random from all that email in. I’ll email the winner on Friday morning. (It’ll be late notice–sorry, time will be tight.) Get those emails in now! It’s easy!

Unlike some of that “blog radio”, my radio show is live. “I once was Canadian”, is on the air on KZSU!

Listen in every Tuesday, from 3-5pm Pacific on KZSU 90.1 FM in the Bay Area or you can listen online.

During my show you’ll be able to follow along online with my playlist.

A couple weeks ago I realized that I was going to be swimming in concerts for a couple weeks here, so I’ve been saving up my concert energy/ love/ money for this. Here’s what I’m probably seeing:

• Tuesday October 21: the Acorn, Ohbijou @ the Hemlock, 9pm, $10, 21+
  I was intrigued by “Dents” (below) and got their album Glory Hope Mountain which is also enjoyable. They’ve just released a split 12″ with tour partners Ohbijou which you can stream here.

  the Acorn - Dents (mp3)
  

• Wednesday October 22: Silian Rail, Aarrows, Neveragain @ Bottom of the Hill, 9pm, $8, a/a
  As you can tell from yesterday’s post I’ve been digging Silian Rail. This is their release show for their album And I You, to Pieces.

  Silian Rail - Awake (mp3)
  

• Thursday October 23: the Mountain Goats, Kaki King @ the Independent, 8pm, $22.50, 21+
  Some of the more ridiculous and amazing shows I’ve been to have been by the Mountain Goats. Lead man John Darnielle controls an audience like no one else and with hundreds of songs at his disposal, the shows are always different and fun. Looks like this show is sold out unfortunately. Tickets may still be available for the tour’s stop the next night, the 24th, at the Fillmore.

  Mountain Goats - Fall of the Star High School Running Back (mp3)
  

• Friday October 24: Lake, Half-Handed Cloud @ Rock Paper Scissors, 6pm, FREE, a/a
  I enjoyed LAKE the last time they came through and the stuff I’ve heard from their most recent album Oh the Places We’ll Go is good. I also haven’t seen the ADD pop makers of Half Handed Cloud recently, so it’d be good to catch them again. Lake is also playing the next day at the Lab, also in Oakland.

  Lake - Blue Ocean Blue (mp3)
  

• Monday October 27: the Notwist @ Bimbo’s, 8pm, $20, 18+
  I’ve honestly heard pretty mediocre or varied things about the Notwist live show, but after having to or choosing to miss them a couple times, I’ve decided I’ll have to go and judge for myself.

  the Notwist - Good Lies (mp3)
  

• Wednesday October 29: Maus Haus @ Rickshaw Stop, 9pm, $8, 21+
  I’ve pretty much only had a ton of fun seeing the freak-out pop of Maus Haus live and with this being the album release show for their new one, Lake Marvals, I’m expecting good things.

  Maus Haus - Rigid Breakfast (mp3)
  

• Thursday October 30: the Botticellis, the Mumlers @ Bottom of the Hill, 9pm, $8, a/a
  The Botts put on a good show and I’ve been liking a lot of the new tunes they’ve been playing and I’ve been trying to catch the Mumlers for a while, so that makes this a good combination.

  the Botticellis - Awaiting on You All (mp3)
  

• Saturday November 1: Mount Eerie @ Million Fishes, 8pm, a/a(?) [1]
  Phil Elverum is a supremely weird individual and he puts on really quirky shows. On the other hand, I really don’t think I understood or liked his music a ton until I saw him live. So if you’re a fan or are on the fence about Mount Eerie/ the Microphones, check out this intimate show. He’s also playing the previous night at a Cave Show at Woulds Gallery in Oakland, whatever that means, and the next day at the Alternative Press Expo also in Oakland.

  Mount Eerie - Let’s Get Out of the Romance (mp3)
  

• Sunday November 2: Spinto Band, Frightened Rabbit @ Bottom of the Hill, 9pm, $14, a/a
  I’ve come around a bit on Frightened Rabbit. Honestly, their emotive pop still makes me feel a little guilty, but it’s just fun music and hits a certain spot for me. Frightened Rabbit is also playing the previous night, also at the Bottom of the Hill.

  Frightened Rabbit - Good Arms vs. Bad Arms(mp3)
  

Woo! I might just be a little tired after all that.

[1]Note: Lykke Li is also playing November 1 at the Independent and I think that’ll be a good show.

If you’ve been following my radio show playlists over the last couple months, you’ll have noticed that I’ve been playing one band pretty consistently: SF locals Silian Rail. First KZSU had their Spring Tour EP on our new file and then their new album And I You, to Pieces came through. I’ve been listening to and really enjoying both of these records.

Silian Rail’s music falls in between a number of categories. In terms of bands that I hear similarities to, Unwed Sailor’s tunes would be the closest. It’s instrumental but it doesn’t have the usual repetitive features or crescendos and decrescendos heard in post rock. The drumming is interesting and active like math rock drumming but the music doesn’t have the time shifts. It has pop song structures but these are not actually pop songs, or really songs in that they lack lyrics.

But regardless of how you try to classify this music–I’ve just been calling it instrumental indie rock–it’s engaging and has stood up to my repeated listens really well.

Silian Rail - Drunken Boat (mp3, from Spring Tour EP)

Silian Rail - Awake (mp3, from And I You, to Pieces)

Having seen the band at this year Rock Make Street Festival, I can tell you that they put on a good live show. The CD release show for And I You, to Pieces is next Wednesday:

10/23 Silian Rail, Aarrows, Neveragain @ Bottom of the Hill, 9pm, $8, a/a

They have various dates in the Bay Area and Northern California in the next couple months. You can find those at the band’s myspace. To buy the album, And I You, to Pieces use the paypal link on their myspace page.

Other local and I’m listening posts (newest-to-oldest):

• Dodos (…I’m still listening)
• Two Sheds
• Lightening Bug Situation
• Nyles Lannon
• Or, the Whale
• Ian Fays
• Port O’Brien
• Beatbeat Whisper
• the Finches
• the Dodos

–

Adrian (me):
Seam - Get Higher (mp3) (buy)

The first few moments of the Pace is Glacial bring out a smile of nostalgia for this 90s Chicago-scene indie rock band. But by ten seconds in, I’m fully enveloped by the music. On a day where I was feeling rather apathetic and put on this album to distract me, this song did a lot more than just that, it buoyed me. It’s totally classic Seam: great riffs and melody and vocals.

–

Oz:
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - Buriedfed (mp3) (buy)

I’m still not quite sure why I can’t stop listening to this song. I think I just like mumbling.

–

Andy:
Magnolia Electric Co - In the Human World (mp3) (buy)

The Black Ram isn’t my favorite disc of the 4 included in Magnolia Electric Co’s massive box set, Sojourner. “The Human World”, however, is most certainly the best opener in the set, and one of the best openers on any of Jason Molina’s releases. For me, it serves as a bridge between the old, minor-chord Songs:Ohia, and the newer, Neil-Young influenced MEC. The sparse intro, with Molina’s vocals providing most of the momentum, could be an outtake from Didn’t It Rain. The major-chord turnaround, though, where Molina sings “This time, I’m leaving nothing behind,” belongs squarely in the new territory of MEC.

–

Rob:
Skip James - Devil Got My Woman (mp3) (buy)

I picked up a compilation of early Skip Jams recordings at the library a couple of weeks ago on a whim and his mournful wail has been sloshing around my head ever since. The vocals and guitar on this track are entrancing.

–

Stereolab - Self Portrait With Electric Brain (mp3)

To enter to win a pair of tickets to this show, email contest [at] ipickmynose [dot] com by 11:59pm Monday October 20 with “Stereolab” in the subject line. The winner will be chosen at random from all that email in. I’ll email the winner on Tuesday. Get those emails in now! It’s easy!

Where to get tickets: The Independent, Great American Music Hall, Slim’s, Fillmore, Shoreline, and other Livenation venues, the Warfield. Another Planet booked venues like Greek Theatre @ Berkeley, Palace of Fine Arts, etc. Bimbo’s.

On sale Saturday October 18:
11/18 Gretchen Wilson @ Warfield

On sale Sunday October 19:
11/11 Jay Blakesberg @ the Independent
11/18 Pylon @ the Independent
11/18 El Gran Silencio @ Slim’s
11/23 The Entrance Band, Rodriguez, Sleepy Sun, Matt Baldwin Electric Band @ Great American
11/26 Glenn Washington @ Slim’s
11/29 The Mermen @ Great American

12/5 Meat Beat Manifesto, Dub Gabriel @ the Independent
12/6 Low vs. Diamond, Barcelona @ the Independent
12/11 Subtle @ the Independent
12/12 Mudhoney, Wooden Shjips, SF Dirty Stealer @ the Independent
12/12 Dave Koz @ Paramount Theatre
12/14 Fishbone @ the Independent
12/31 Greg Proops @ Palace of Fine Arts

Double check all information as venues and promoters often change on-sale times and days up until the last minute.

I saw a poster up in my neighborhood a few months ago. Oh, huh, how about that? It’s Jamie. And last night I saw him again along with his band on Conan (including a sweet shirt.)

Of course, it’s Jonny 5 of the Flobots (myspace), now a Universal-signed hip hop group. But in college, it was my friend and housemate Farhad’s friend Jamie. The guy that’d come up from Providence to lay down some tracks all the time. Farhad did all the production on their recordings and some of it was a bit unusual. I’d be walking by his room and he’s ask me to hit record while he banged on a 5 gallon water jug in the hallway; or he’d tell me about taking inspiration from the horn hits in a Bruce Lee film.

The album eventually came out as Onomatopoeia under Jonny 5 + Yak, but the group would refer to themselves as the Flobots and had the website to prove it.

But what about the music, right? Up until that point I hadn’t liked a lot of hip hop, but the album steadily grew on me. It got to the point where the friend-relation had worn off and I was still listening to it more and more. The production was meticulous, creative and fascinating and Jonny 5’s MCing was impressive and his raps were smooth and, perhaps more importantly, thought provoking. While few people would call this one of the best hip hop albums, it certainly numbers among my favorites and most listened it.

Back in those days, there were even a few basement concerts of the Flobots, in a live set up with Jonny 5 on the mic, Farhad on drums, a bassist and a guy on Rhodes electric piano. I remember enjoying those shows immensely.

The title track is also one of the best. The D.A.R.E. section in the middle is pretty impressive just for how smoothly it goes by; it doesn’t seem forced at all.

Jonny 5 + Yak (the Flobots) - Onomatopoeia (mp3)

I always loved how “the Last Straw” started out as so many things and then managed to merge together into one thing without one really noticing.

Jonny 5 + Yak (the Flobots) - The Last Straw, Pt. 2000 (mp3)

Onomatopoeia is still available from amazon. The Flobots’ current incarnation are in San Francisco on November 23 at the Warfield with Matisyahu.

Jamie went on to, well, the Flobots of course. Farhad went on to rock in Night Rally, which has subsequently folded, and now Summerduck.

My radio show, “I once was Canadian”, is on KZSU starting a little early this week because the previous DJ needs to take off early. I’ll be on starting at 2:15pm Pacific. Tune in!

Listen in every Tuesday, from 3-5pm Pacific on KZSU 90.1 FM in the Bay Area or you can listen online.

During my show you’ll be able to follow along online with my playlist.

His eyes were huge. “Dude!” His eyes were huge and he was shouting across the record store at me. “Adrian!” Like a trophy over his head, my friend was holding up a 7″. I couldn’t see what it was or why he was so excited.

It was Vol. 1.1, the David Bazan/ Casey Foubert split, on Ben Gibbard’s short-lived Bedside Recordings record label, limited to 500 copies. I hadn’t seen it before and I haven’t seen it since. The Bazan side was an acoustic version of “the Poison Makes” (maybe I’ll post that another time). That song eventually appeared on Pedro the Lion’s last album, Achilles Heel, but the 7″ version was more stark and depressing in the best possible way. Exactly what I would have expected from Bazan

I had no idea what to expect from the Casey Foubert side. I knew he was in a band that I loved, Seldom, and had recently contributed to/ drummed for Pedro the Lion. It turned out to be a rough acoustic guitar and vocals songs, reminiscent of Hayden in some ways (though I only see that now–I didn’t know Hayden at all in early 2003 when I first heard “Walk Slow”).

Casey Foubert - Walk Slow(mp3)

Seldom has dissolved but Casey has gone on to be a go-to guy in indie rock, playing bass and keys for Sufjan, contributing lots of instruments and producing for Rocky Votolato and drumming for Crystal Skulls. He’s even acted as a fill-in drummer for John Vanderslice. His solo act, these days, is going by Law of the Least Effort.