Fairy Tale, we later learned (aka, when reading the liner notes), had some post-show work done in the studio.  And it turns out Beach Boys Party! wasn’t live at all, recorded entirely at a studio, a gimmick cooked up by Brian Wilson himself.  Oh yeah, and we liked Primus.  Now older, and listening to Rattle and Hum with significantly less frequency, we’ve come to view the live recording as a junior partner to the subtler and more satisfying craft of multi-track recording.  Granted there are exceptions, like Spiritualized’s epic Royal Albert Hall and Nirvana’s catalog deconstructing Unplugged in New York, but for the most part they just come off as half baked; something thrown out there by a record label to maintain brand awareness while their hit machine struggles to compose its next opus.  Rarely if ever, afterall, can the entire sensory experience of a concert be re-created by a feast only for the ears. 

Doubly so for “local” live albums (again, Fairy Tale being an obvious exception).  Frequently, they’re a bad microphone in the audience or recorded directly from the sound-board, neither one being particularly good source mater from which to construct a decent final mix.  MySpace is littered with live recordings of local bands that sound so awful it boggles the mind people would put them up there for others to hear.  Sure, its great to be stoked about your music and what to put it out there for people to hear, but good biscuits and gravy from AAA Cafe, have a little respect for the shape your art is in.  So, with all that on record, you might be just as suprised as we were at how Burt Reynolds as Malone Motion Turns it On’s new Live at the Southpaw EP is (note:  Burt Reynolds as Malone kicks ass). 

Setting aside the production pitfalls of live recordings for a minute, it actually makes more sense for MTIO to make a live album than almost any other band in town.  During the year of the INSTRUMENTAL MADNESS of our lord that was 2007, you could generally wheat and chaff the various vocal-eschewing acts around town with a few simple descriptors.  Blades are the guys with the mathy time signatures and angular riffs; By the End of Tonight are the guys who can’t write a song with fewer than one thousand parts; Co-Pilot found the part of outer space that has lots of clouds; Rustler builds slow and steady to shredertaining metal heights; Golden Axe WILL MELT YOUR FACE; MTIO are looser and more improvisational.  That right there is why Live at the Southpaw works so well.

Their debut outing, Rima, though a fine piece of work, froze their songs into a static, repeatable artifact.  So while we enjoyed it, we felt it wasn’t as ‘genuine’ as the band was live, when it felt like anything could happen and their songs a stack of Mad Libs waiting for whatever outside influences might make one outing so distinct from another.  Here, like a rock solid jazz quartet doing its thing in black and white photography cool, the songs are freer, and the improvisations more organic than the could be in a studio where second takes are allowed.  “Satelightening”, a track on both, clocks in a full three minutes longer here than on Rima.  And granted, while anytime you put something to tape you run the risk of making it definitive, the effect here is making us want to head out the door to their next show and see what noun, verb and adjective they throw in this time.

Motion Turns it On’s Live at the Southpaw is available at record stores around town and, starting yesterday, via digital download from iTunes and their MySpace (careful Mac users, you cannot download SNOCAP songs, but you won’t figure that out until after you pay for them).  Party.

We just spoke with Broman aka JD, member of Over Sea, Under Stone, Lenny Briscoe, Guitars, The Holly Hall and the SECRET MAN behind this weekend’s event and the ongoing show series in general.  He let slip the word that Lenny Briscoe is going on third and that they’ll be performing a very special cover during their set.  While he wouldn’t give it away he did put the word out that it will appeal to fans of Lance Walker.  CHUNGA!  How about a good looking picture of the man you need to thank when you get here:

The place is starting to get some traffic, and already has more feet on the dirt than the average SSS weekend. We ran into power-chord couple Jonpril, who were munchin down on some ceiveche, and Stephen Fierce and Nikki 7 (Something Fierce) just walked in the door. Oh look, Chris and Craig Warmth (Cop Warmth) making absolutely no attempt to beat the heat. “I work on a rig in this all day,” says Craig.  Hot.

Co-Pilot is starting – we gotta go rock it!

FRIDAY
SHARKS AND SAILORS CD RELEASE SHOW W/UME and THE JONX @ WALTER’S
YUSSS. PLUS DJ UNDER WARRANTY. YUSS!

LEAVE YOUR GENRE AT THE DOOR @ FITZGERALDS
Featuring: The Tontons, Perseph 1 & Andacc, Hueman, Kam, Evak 1, The Television Skies, Satin Hooks, Lower Life Form, Babel Fish, Two Star Symphony, Peekaboo Theory, B.B. Aeroplane and Dirty De.
Hey Fitz. We remember when we used to go to you all the time. It was kind of the highlight of our young lives, recently minted drivers license in our wallet and super big gulp Dr. Pepper in the cup holder of our parents’ Olds 88. We heard a rumor that this whole Leave Your Genre at the Door thing might turn into a regular event. If it does, and you keep having APPROVED mash-up line-ups like this, we might need to get a bigger cup-holder.

ALSO

Spain Colored Orange, You(genious), Arthur Yoria, Program @ The Mink

SATURDAY
SATURDAY SECRET SHOW FESTIVAL @ THE SHADY TAVERN
Check out our post earlier in the week for the skinny on this fatty of an event. Five bucks for two days, tons of bands, cheap beer and setups in the sunshine. Helluva lineup, even if who is playing when and on what day is SECRETS. Party

ALSO

TEXAS SKA FEST @ DAN ELECTRO’S GUITAR BAR

You know, ever since a few weeks ago when some friends of the Skyline went to check out the Les Than Jake show and reported back about the epic time they had, we’ve had a bit of the twin tone on the brain. So then, add to that little pique of interest our desire to go give a fresh listen to Los Skarnales, who we thought were no longer a band (we swear to blog we went to a final show of some sort a few years ago at Fitz) and yet somehow bested Fatal Flying Guilloteens, Hell City Kings, Poor Dumb Bastards and Something Fierce in the Houston Press Music Awards punk category (granted, we called it at the time, but didn’t actually think it would happen). So, while checking them out, we stumbled across a poster for this event, which features eight ska bands, including Houstonians Los Skarnales, The Failed Attempt, The Pocket and Molotov Cocktail. Yeah. A band headlining a ska festival beat out all you punks. BANKSHOT. Doors at four. Ten Bucks.

Data vs. Data, Flowers to Hide, Wicked Poseur @ Rudyards

BLACKIE and Giant Princess @ Notsuoh (followed by)
BLACKIE, Cop Warmth, Delta Block, Cheney Young, PWI @ Franciscos (in the basement)

SUNDAY
SATURDAY SECRET SHOW FESTIVAL @ THE SHADY TAVERN
TWO DAY SATURDAY!

LANCE HIGDON’S 25th BIRTHDAY SHOW @ DOUBLE DAVE’S PIZZA
The Tambersauro drummer is taking the opportunity of his turning a quarter century to offer up the live debut of THREE of his musical projects. QUOTE: “B L A C K I E vs. Limb vs. Gray Tapes (weirdo avant-rap jams), Holy Fiction (Acoustic guitars and beats and strong vocals) and Golden Cities” Woah. Starts at 7pm at the DD on Ella near 34th. Free.

For those who skipped homeroom, the Saturday Secret Show takes place every week on its namesake at the Shady Tavern in the Heights and has a lineup that is, again, taken directly from its name (SECRETS). Though sometimes the folks actually playing is no more secret that Seacrest, it’s always an epic good time, and could be considered one of the most dreadfully under-utilized weekly activities in the city. This weekend, however, there aren’t just the normal two or three bands, and it is anything but a surprise as to who’s going to be playing. We’d type them all out here, but it would give us a hand cramp and we’re running out of interns to do our work for us. Plus, we dig the flyer – check it out instead:

Party. For the cost cooncious, this is most assuredly the cheapest per-band outing of the three EPIC events held in town as of late, easily sqashing the HOOTENANNY!’s pricey $0.50 per band, and, at $0.14 per ROCKER, squeezing under the Houston Press Showcase’s $0.16. Math rules. So will this show. Go and count the ways.