Arcata Eye Scene
A-town art, music, theatre. Mostly music. Updated Wednesdays.Archive for Josh Duke
From the print edition, Dec. 16, 2008
Josh Duke on the Absynth Quintet.
Ross Rowley on playing the Freshwater Market.
Jennifer Savage on ‘A Very Playhouse Christmas’
Eye columnist Josh Duke judges karaoke tomorrow night
Read his review of The P-Town Chronicles, Vol. 1: A Farewell Device here.
Partake in Blue Lake Casino’s “scary”-oke experience tomorrow night. One hundred dollars for first prize!
Also on the judges’ panel, Melody Stone and Dr. Syd Reagan III.
Josh Duke gets into the swing of things
Just like the last time I got a drink thrown in my face, Saturday night had a sense of refreshing vigor that raised me from my doldrums and left me standing and asking myself the question, “What did I do to deserve this?” Donna Landry and her band gave us a swing and R&B set at the Jambalaya that got a modest crowd dancing to a docket full of old standards. Read the rest of this entry »
Josh Duke’s year of trauma
This is my 50th article with the Arcata Eye. Fifty articles in 52 weeks. Through all the laughs, cries, veiled threats, flat tires, snarky editor commentary and a permanent branding as a sourpuss that rags on anyone that doesn’t cite Wilco as an influence, I remain here, happier than ever that I have such an opportunity to exercise discourse on our thriving and varied music scene.
Read Josh’s response to Forcefed Trauma’s letter here.
And check it out: New Zealand has a Forcefed Trauma of its own! Crazy.
Josh Duke: Bonus Tracks – July 8, 2008
I know you all think I’m a hater. I know you all think I‘m some kind of sour-puss that hates on everybody that isn’t in Strix Vega. Believe it or not, there are a few bands that I am impressed by. Not only is it rare for me to be impressed by a band, but rarer still is it for me to admit that they do. Saturday night I went to Mosgo’s with the lowest of expectations, not holding my breath for anything exciting. Read the rest of this entry »
Two views on The Braille Tapes
From Daniel Lewis‘ Rock and a Hard Place:
“The music really wasn’t my speed. It was very organized and arranged well. It was definitely a pleasure to see and hear the double percussion. The Braille Tapes have done a lot of practicing. Again, it was very organized and arranged well. I must admit also, that even though it wasn’t my preferred genre, it is always a pleasure seeing people doing what they love. There wasn’t a very large crowd there but the people who were there seemed to be enjoying it and the band was obviously enjoying themselves, so how can that be anything but a good time?”
From Josh Duke’s Bonus Tracks:
“Armed with two guitarists, a drummer and another guy that can’t decide if he’s a drummer or another guitarist, The Braille Tapes have shown us all that all you need to be “progressive” is to play at an ungodly volume and keep a non-traditional arrangement of instruments that somehow doesn’t really sound all that different from somebody using the usual guitar/bass/drums format. Perhaps one day they’ll learn that less is more and leave that extra drum kit (and maybe the extra member) at home.”
Josh Duke: Bonus Tracks – May 20, 2008
The joys of graduation are many a splendorous thing. You wear a funny hat, you walk down an aisle with other people in funny hats and then some other guy in an even funnier hat hands you an empty folder before booting you into the real world, kicking and screaming. Read the rest of this entry »
Josh Duke on KSLG’s birthday bash
KSLG 94.1 FM turned seven, and to celebrate such an occasion, they threw a party at Hum Brews. After being warned by at least one DJ that I shouldn’t say anything mean about The Monster Women, Dynamite Sweater or any of the festivities occurring that night, I decided to pay some respect to the station that I should probably be thanking for having this job and thought about it for about five minutes before deciding to do it anyway, and go for broke.
More here.
This week in Scene – April 15, 2008
Ross Rowley takes on the 12 notes:
There are 12 notes in the chromatic scale: A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#.
How can 12 notes cause so much discord and dissonance between people? It’s just a matter of how you arrange these notes, adding rhythm, tempo and dynamics that dictates styles of music and more importantly, styles of people.
“I hate country music.”
“Well, I hate punk.”
“There ain’t nothing worse than reggae.”
“God, I can’t stand Dixieland.”
Josh Duke loves ladies who love Led Zeppelin:
While I would like to spend my time ranting and raving about how awesome Power of County was on Saturday night, this review really has nothing to do with them…. Instead I focus upon a band that has learned to capitalize on both the nostalgic parts of our minds as well as the libidos of every man in the room all in one bundled fireball of a package: Zepperella, an all-female Led Zeppelin tribute outfit from San Francisco compelled me to trade $10 for an opportunity to have my eardrums thankfully blown out by a quartet of beautiful sirens.
Shay’s Rebellion reviews Josh’s review of Shay’s Rebellion:
Concerning last week’s article on Shays’ Rebellion and The Hard Ride: I’m sorry that Josh Duke didn’t like the show. I didn’t realize that our music could be so offensive to some people. But then again, I sometimes forget that there is a fairly large contingent of self-satisfied hipsters out there with radically different tastes than I.
Once again, Terrence McNally believes you should attend a Trigger Renegade show:
As Arcata cannabis celebrants are settling in for the night this Sunday, 4/20, feeling the gravitational pull of second-hand overstuffed couches and Ben and Jerry’s pints, conversing with tribe members that, “Dude – my fellow patchwork-clothed compatriot! We totally inhaled marijuana smoke and felt its effects in a large municipal park today!” the better action awaits at the Alibi. At home, among the tapestries and shag carpeting, the fuzzy dreadheads will be, nodding off to a canned bootleg of Garcia noodling incessantly at ‘Warfield ‘79.” Across town, the Viking war party will have landed, tearing open sonic walls and further loosening the nails and screws of an embattled, listing tavern. Trigger Renegade will play. And this will be good. Slough Feg will play. This, too, will be good.
Buy a paper for the full stories, or check here for more.
Josh Duke: Bonus Tracks – APRIL 1, 2008
Oh. My. God. Let me repeat that phrase: Oh. My. God. I just saw two bands Saturday night at the Alibi that I not only believe will change my life forever, but the landscape of music itself for generations to come. Dragged by Horses paid us a visit, and heralding their performance was Prize Country, bands who should not only be in the Rock’n'Roll Hall of Fame, but should also be on the board that decides who gets in every year after that. If I were to gauge the intensity of my experience Saturday night, it’d rank somewhere between the time Mike Ness spat on me, and the time I saw Exene Cervenka sang and made me fall in love with her. I can die a happy man after Saturday. Read the rest of this entry »
