Pop into the Warhol tonight

Puns are great.

Anyway, Paul Simon’s son, Harper--who, apparently, did not actually accompany his father on travels through the Mississippi Delta, which shined like a national guitar, at age 9--will, presumably, be following a river down a highway through the arguable cradle of the French and Indian War this evening to perform at the Andy Warhol Museum. Simon’s self-titled, self-produced, self-released solo debut is recently out and has garnered some pretty favorable reviews.

Not sold? Tonight’s opener is local neo-folk songstress Emily Rodgers, who has a recent release of her own out on Misra Records, home to Will Johnson and Hallelujah the Hills and formerly home to Phosphorescent and Great Lakes Swimmers.

Price of admission: $12. Sol(i)d.



UPDATE: A review of the show is here, courtesy of Scott Mervis at the P-G.

Weekend Forecast

Looking ahead, we see a good weekend for locally grown music(ians) on the horizon, with Gibsonia's Bearskin storming the Rex on Friday, then Good Night States* at Brillobox coming up against Greensburg native SAADI, who will be blowing in from NYC to Garfield Artworks on Saturday (playing with a "Lights," not to be confused with Lights).

Why the halfhearted weather metaphor? No idea.

Surprise: I'm partial to GNS on Saturday. But I have to say that I dig SAADI's sound. Given the proximity of Saturday's venues, it may be advisable to try and squeeze in both shows if you're feeling adventurous.

Download/Stream:
SAADI - "Pollen Seeks Bees"

*A special thanks to GNS for having an actual web site. If I haven't mentioned it before, I really hate MySpace Music. The layout, the player, the slowness to load... everything about it.

Premature "Best of 2K9" Playlist

Note the uglyass new widget in the sidebar. Early, yes, but we're almost there so I'm giving it the OK. Consider it a work in progress; I will too, and we'll revise as justice dictates.

Some of these songs were on '08 albums, you say. And you are correct. But if they were released as singles this year and I really like them, I'll allow it. Por ejemplo, "Mykonos." Great song. No way I was letting that little guy off the queue.

Proposed additions have already been made, including but not limited to:

• "You Do You” - Bear in Heaven
• "Talamak” - Toro y Moi
• “11th Dimension” - Julian Casablancas
• “Home” Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
• "And the Hazy Sea" - Cymbals Eat Guitars
• "Life's a Dream" - Built to Spill
• "Young Adult Friction" - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
• "Mind, Drips" - Neon Indian

Past and (potentially) future contributor Jimmy has also suggested "Blood Bank," which I see is making a lot of these lists. A fine song, to be sure, though I'm not sold. But if the masses speak, they will be heard.

So for now, listen, enjoy, and (as always) feel free to comment or contribute. And maybe I'll fix up those colors before winter comes to town.

EDIT: Might drop Camera Obscura from the list. "French Navy" is a great song, but I was thinking this weekend it's not up to snuff with their older stuff. Is that grounds from removal? Not sure yet...

Won't you be my neighbor?

It may not be his theme song exactly, but it's totally awesome anyhow:

Download/Stream:
Seven Saturdays - "A Beautiful Day"

Oh When, Oh When...

Download/Stream:
Blitzen Trapper - "Black River Killer"

While My Ukulele Gently Weeps

The tickets are bit pricy at $42, but if you can swing it Jake Shimabukuro should be a highlight of the month when he plays the Manchester Craftmens Guild with Stanley Jordan on November 13. He does some insane things with just four strings and that miniature gueetar. Here he is tearing up a classic:



UPDATE: Thanks to Amy from the Guild for pointing out in the comments thread that using promo code PG+2009 when you purchase tickets online will get your ticket down to $34. Not bad, not bad.