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It has come to my attention that I have gained a bit of a reputation as “the mean one” here at Wayward Panties, and I have to admit that I don’t mind the moniker. I believe in yin and yang, and I have no problem being the resident mean girl opposite my girl Tiffany. I tend to have high expectations and am not easily impressed. I go into a lot of shows setting the bar pretty high. So when I showed up at the Gothic for the Augustana show last night to see a multitude of teenage tanning-booth victims and a KBCO tent at the gate, I bought myself a Peroni and steeled myself for the worst.

But here’s the thing. Opening act David Ford blew me away. I didn’t know what to make of the softspoken, beared and fedora-wearing man onstage with a tiny piano. When he started live-looping, I even rolled my eyes a bit (Oh great, I thought, live looping is officially played out). But when he really found his groove, this British artist had this great, symphonic sound that is striking if only because he’s the only guy up there. But the thing that really got me is his sweet, raspy sound and pretty, heartwrenching songwriting. For those of us who love Tom Waits, we have been waiting for a long time for someone to resurrect the slightly-emo, charmingly optimistic, staggeringly talented spirit of his younger years. And David Ford presents a solid argument in his own favor for this role.

Ford’s live-looping technique breaks from the styles of Andrew Bird and the like by building to incredible crescendo, starting with a maraca or two, adding a guitar and drum riff, and then exploding in sound at the very end. But he doesn’t use this technique as a gimmick- he’s as comfortable and effective just sitting alone at his piano as he is adding tracks to his looping creations. And his between-song banter, unimposing and drily, well, British, just adds to the effect. I’d happily see David Ford again, just to see how he continues to explore both basic songwriting and his large-scale live-looping experiments.

David Ford’s people paid for my ticket, so I’m focusing mainly on his set (short as it was) but I believe Wild Sweet Orange deserves a mention as well. I tend to think of songs cinematically, and Wild Sweet Orange would create one hell of a soundtrack for a film where two people leave each other, move far away, and finally realize they can’t live without each other and rush to each other’s arms. They oscillate between the sweetly romantic and a kind of train-inspired, Southern traveling-song style that I’ve always loved, whether done by Willie Nelson or Bright Eyes.

As for Augustana, the headliners, I was not terribly impressed. As they took the stage, I finally realized why the aforementioned tanorexic teens had bugged their parents to take them to this show. These overstyled, overproduced rockers came off (to me, at least) as a musical Hot Topic, a way to commercially benefit from standard-issue teen angst. Their radio-friendly sound isn’t bad per se, just not my style. And so to avoid putting a sour taste in my mouth after seeing the first two excellent acts, I quietly slipped away into the night.

But what’s important here is that somewhere between David Ford’s inspired piano and Wild Sweet Orange’s cool, Southern rock, I realized I was really loving the music. I was tapping a stiletto-clad foot and humming to the melody. I was jotting down lyrics that I liked and contemplating buying the CD at the door. And for this mean girl, that’s a big deal.

Day: Friday (May 16)
Who: Margot and the Nuclear So & Sos
Where: Larimer Lounge
Why: They sing radiant lullabies for a new DIY urban culture. Aren’t you a part of that?
Cost: $10
Listen: Margot

Day: Saturday (May 17)
Who: Tapes n’ Tapes
Where: The Bluebird Theater
Why: They play music ranging from fast-paced polka renditions to the slower, more blues-influenced songs. And they play it all well.
Cost: $15
Listen: Tapes

Day: Sunday (May 18)
Who: Atmosphere
Where: The Ogden Theater
Why: Indie hip-hip providing alternative to all the bling and booty rap of today.
Cost: $25
Listen: Atmosphere

Sorry, the selections are light this week. It’s not like we book the shows. We just report the ones we like. Also, did you know that Insane Clown Posse is playing at Red Rocks?

Remember how much fun it was last year? This year is going to kill that!

When: September 13 and 14
Where: Red Rocks
Cost: 2-Day Ticket - $110
Single Day Tickets - $59.50
More Info: Online
Line-up:

Running late as usual, I arrived just in time to see the end of Mark Mallman’s set. I will only say that he was highly entertaining, the keys were covered in leopard print and there was a lone dude dancing near the bar like the moves couldn’t stay inside him another second. Fantastic. I wish I had been more punctual.

It was a surprisingly short wait to get all of the members of Dark Meat onto the itsy-bitsy Hi Dive stage. I counted 12, but that was when the action had started, so I could have missed some. The instrumentation was stellar. A brass section, a piccolo, a violin, 2 drummers, singers, keys, guitars. Oh, my! The band nerd in me was in heaven.

When the first song started, it was laced with 70’s era harmony. Then the horns kicked in. POW! Again, the internal band nerd shivered. The varience of instruments, vocal stylings and genre not only held my attention late on a Thursday night, but kept me up thinking about how I could possibly describe the evening without the use of a thousand exclamation points.

By the end of the night, I was speechless… well as speechless as I get. And that just means me quoting the lead singer’s introductions to the songs. “This is a true story about when me and my cousin got into some shit.” A true story indeed.

The show opened up with a pounding kick drum and the first few notes of “This World Is Not My Home”, and as the music swelled, I found myself lining up a shot at the hi-dive’s lone pool table, singing at the top of my lungs “Lord, take me awaay! This worrld is not my home! I won’t need a thinng! Love will be my home! Love, love, love… love, love, love!” The four or five friends I had invited out to the show all looked at me as if I was a crazy man. In their defense, lead singer Chris Adolf hadn’t started singing yet, and my friends didn’t yet know I was singing the lyrics to the song being played. And really, who just starts singing “Lord, take me awaay! This world is not my home!” while playing a game of pool at a dive bar? A crazy man.

But that’s just the sort of song Bad Weather California plays, songs that seem to take root in you and well up out of you and songs that you can’t help singing along to, even if you’ve only heard them once or twice. And they play them well, and they play them differently almost every show.

And then the strangest thing happens… the hi-dive, which had up until last night been, for me, one of those bars that made me feel out of the loop or not on the scene or just plain not cool enough, suddenly felt like my bar, the place I hung out at. I suddenly realized that all of that loop/scene/cool stuff was just in my head. Maybe it was because I was with my friends and we were just hanging out playing pool while Bad Weather California, the best band in Denver, was playing the soundtrack to our evening, but I like to believe that it was the love. The love coming out clear over the speakers and into everyone’s brains was what made that big scary hi-dive feel like home to me. But you can believe what you want, right?

Day: Monday (May 5)
Who: Kate Nash
Where: Fox Theater
Why: Even though I feel she still has some growing into her voice to do, it remains a very pretty voice.
Cost: $20
Listen: Kate

Day: Wednesday (May 7)
Who: VHS or Beta
Where: Bluebird Theater
Why: Their shows are an entirely thrilling and completely exhausting dancy experience.
Cost: $16
Listen: VHS or beta

Day: Friday (May 9)
Who: Dan Craig
Where: The Oriental Theater
Why: I’ve heard his latest release is “a delicate, revealing exposé full of lyrical genius and haunting arrangements.” That sounds awfully nice.
Cost: $10
Listen: Dan

OR

Day: Friday (May 9)
Who: The Little Ones
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: If you like pop music and being happy, then you should like this show.
Cost: $10
Listen: The Little Ones

Day: Saturday (May 10)
Who: Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Where: The Bluebird Theater
Why: The group is known for their raucous live shows, which often end in stage diving and broken instruments. Plus they completely killed it at SXSW.
Cost: $13
Listen: DIOYY

OR

Day: Saturday (May 10)
Who: Film School
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: “Film School creates a sonic galaxy that engulfs listeners.”
Cost: $8
Listen: Film School

OR

Day: Saturday (May 10)
Who: David Ford
Where: The Gothic
Why: He plays solo, but sounds like he has a full band due to his incredible talent at playing instruments and then looping those sounds.
Cost: $18
Listen: David Ford

Well, only for one lucky winner that is. Today Wayward Panties brings you a chance to set yourself apart from your peers by proclaiming you have in fact won something. And who doesn’t like winning?

But, it gets better than that because the album in question is by David Ford a singer/songwriter that apparently looks at the downsides of life with a big f’ you, and perhaps even a smile. His lyricism has drawn comparisons to Conor Oberst which may impress you. What impresses me is that he plays solo, but by looping loads of instruments it sounds like he has an entire band backing him up. Check out this video to see what I mean:

Lucky for us, Mr. Ford will be playing in Denver on May 10 at the Gothic Theater.

Now, for the good stuff. To win a copy of this completely awesome CD you simply have to email us at waywardpanties@gmail.com with the subject line “I like free music.” How easy is that? We will randomly select one email through an interesting experience involving a blindfold and Post-it notes. If your name is chosen you’ll hear from us by Tuesday. If not, well then you won’t be hearing from us this time. Good luck, music lovers!

Soundpool has an undeniably lush, pretty sound, the kind that would be perfect for a scene in a uber uber hip indie flick during an intensely sensual love scene, or perhaps a good soundtrack for a bizarre, oceanic dream. With “Dichotomies and Dreamland,” the band pulls and molds this sleepy sound through a full-length album. To be honest, it can be a little much at times, this whispery, synthy stuff. The new album delves ever-so-slightly into more dancey, beat-driven music, but Soundpool mostly maintains a low-level dreaminess, with the languid effects of red wine on a warm day.

The band has gleefully adopted the label of “psychedelic,” and definitely have that trippy, directionless sound where the songs tend to bleed together. But the expansive and ethereal music they produce, with its myriad synthesizers and guitar, is cool enough that it provides a nice, inobtrusive background. I might just throw this one on the iHome tonight, I’ve had a little trouble reaching my REM stages lately.

MP3 - PLEASURE & PAIN

*All songs posted on Wayward Panties are for promotional use ONLY. If you like the music let the band know by purchasing their music (and shirts and tickets). If you are the owner of this MP3 and would like it taken down please contact us at waywardpanties@gmail.com and we’ll remove it immediately.