Green Arrow Radio

A jam packed house at the High Noon Saloon got what they were looking for with P.O.S. who later on in the even ing mentioned to the crowd that it felt like this was the largest crowd to witness a P.O.S. show. NICE!!! Being ill didn’t stop Dessa and her producer, DJ Plain Ole Bill from setting the scene a blaze with timely serious lyrics and timing that made a duo like this seem like more. Doing tracks off her latest release “A Badly Broken Code” keep the start of my evening fresh and I think I could have done with even a few more moments with Dessa, which I will seek out from the album. Sometime after midnight P.O.S. hit the stage, and kept the truth spitting out deep and real. The crowd was more than willing to be connected to the performance, as it often is here in Madison and they made P.O.S. feel at home here. As the lyrics twisted around his tongue and slapped the faces out there, the beat was kept steady with DJ Plain Ole Bill and later on opening acts Dessa and Astronautalis (who I sadly missed) onstage separately, too, for a few right-on collaborations. Lesson….if P.O.S. comes back to town, get a ticket EARly. No NO, EARlier than that!

When I got there Break Science was just in the swing of that dub-steppin’ live mix drum sampling sweetness that was a sure fit opening up for the explosion that RJD2 had in store for the huge crowd inside the Majestic Theater. They got real nasty with the last jam, looping the soulful from the beat and keeping it sustained until it was in time with the crowd heart beat. This crowd had an identity of its own by the time RJD2 hit the stage with his massive turntable/production/mixing center. The visual stimulation is not a strong as those soaked in with the ears, but my eyes were left in a thankful state. Taking what he feels inside and what our togetherness brought to him, RJD2 ripped some serious funked up grooves without the need for headphones, with the feel of a fighter pilot he took us to a sound battle and we cam back a scene on a billboard. A moment in RJD2’s time is a place to be. He balanced time between mixing/singing some and strumming a guitar with the band….which added that rock-step to the live exploration going on, that bomb dropping with rhythm, a sonic scene with ears of its own that had a perfect musical guide. When a show makes me feel like I couldn’t get it back if I missed it, I am left remembering why it is we love the thing(s) music can do.

Break Science

The Barrymore Theatre did on Saturday night and man, was it just what the doctor ordered. Opening the night was Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, with their reggae dub-rock grooves that satisfied the urges of the swaying masses, and got people ready to get ready. But it was G Love and Special Sauce that the people came to hear and feel and slap five with….they hit us hard in the beginning of the set with some heavy hip-hopped rock, that led right into a long drawn out jazzy versions of classic sounding tracks dripping with some special sauce~ a recipe special for a night made under a Madtown moon. After several Sauce heavy tracks, it was time for Garrett to get one on, well…way more than one as the balcony had little room left..he sat with his acoustic guitar and gave us some blues reminiscent of our old pal John Hammond Jr and the crowd really seems to dig that slowed down portion of the show, kinda personal….kinda cool. What was even better is when the Sauce dripped back out on the stage and we got to get down with our Superhero Brother, do a little wiggling like a worm and the question was finally asked at us….”Who’s got the ….?” and as it turns out, not only did many in attendance come prepared to answer that skunky kinda question, but even G himself seemed to have a little smoke pouring out of himself as the first note dropped..I always have a fun time checking on the current tour of G Love and Special Sauce and this time was no different as my ears were psyched to sample some new tracks sure to be on the next album. Thanks to Paco T for introducing me to this sound way back when I was a step taller than a shorty.

There are unique events, and I want to be a part of them. Tuvan throat singers and traditional instruments meet electronica….ahhh yes please!!! I have loved listening to and sharing Huun Huur Tu‘s music on air for years now and when I found out about the project they had going on with the multi-talented Carmen Rizzo, I just knew it would do me right. The album “Eternal” easily takes the listener on the journey to and through a mystical place to so many, and sometimes with the workmanship of Carmen, you can even find places yet known, the ones you go to when you are deep in. The show at the beautiful Stoughton Opera House transformed a room in a landscape, took sounds and united a front where all good things meet, and best of all assisted in opening some new eyes to the cross-pollination of what people call genres (borders). The first set was mainly Huun Huur Tu‘s time to be acoustic, with tales behind the songs shared, each moment pulled an audience closer to the artists homeland. The ability to create such sound from one’s throat and keep it harmonious within the music while plucking and striking or blowing into traditional Tuvan instruments is a sight I can not describe in words, as the sound created such a mask. In the second set, Carmen added to what Huun Huur Tu started with light beats, heartbeats…giving another life to this already incredibly living sound creature, keyboards and devices fed this being and seemed to pump the blood, not only onstage, but the house seemed to take on a new persona. It is always fascinating to watch people see things for the first time. I want to thank both the fellas in Huun Huur Tu and Mr. Carmen Rizzo for seeing beyond musical borders & boundaries and making a new paint to add to the tapestry.

I am so glad I made it out to see Rickie Lee as she made her way back to Madison after a 4 or 5 year hiatus from our fair city. She was radiant in her magical musical ways, transforming the Barrymore Theater into a blast from the past, almost a 1970’s “feelin’ it for the first time” as she attempted to (successfully I believe) go chronologically through her albums and send her voice, words and tunes into that space place a nice sized crowd filled. The stage murmurs as she talks to or around the crowd would make even the exact same show as unique as the artist herself is, and to be in her world for just that few hour period really did make for a time travel experience. While there were many highlights of this night, there was none finer for me then watching Rickie Lee Jones hit the drum kit for a great rendition of Traffic’s ‘Low Spark of High Heeled Boys’ off here 2000 release “It’s Like This”, which she nailed down as her own with her deep lyrical twists and the turns of her bandmates caused this tune to really stand out. The show is still a show and the legend that Rickie Lee Jones has become is just starting to be truly defined and no better way to have your two cents heard then to go see her live and find out for yourself.