Quick Weekend Roundup

++++FRIDAY:
@ FUEL, $5
10:30pm Descension Rate + 11:30pm Thrall
@ the Mountainlair, free with student ID, one guest max
10pm I forget who + 11pm Distorted Penguins (CD release party)
@ the Rosewood $5
9:30pm? the Busy World of David Bello + 10:30pm? the Ones That Got Away + 11:30pm? the Emergency
@ 123 Pleasant Street $3
Mayday! - 10pm DJs Blackout, Cutman and Invicta spinning until 2am+
@ the Brewpub (times?)
Thred | Bender

++++SATURDAY
@ the Mountainlair, free with student ID, one guest max
10pm Evasdad + 11pm Descension Rate
@ the Rosewood $10, doors open 8pm
9pm? the Morgantown Rounders + 10pm? the Mammals
@ 123 Pleasant Street $10 - dunno the times
David Bello & His God-Given Right + the Underwater Sex Plants (ex-Devolvers) + the Walkmen

Please help by adding corrections / clarifications / additions to the comments

Album Review: O Happy Marriage - M Iafrate & the Priesthood

O Happy Marriage
M Iafrate & the Priesthood
2005 / factory r

M Iafrate and the Priesthood’s O Happy Marriage may stand the test of time as one of the best local releases to come out of this town as long as I've been around. While many ply their trade in hip-ness and panache, Iafrate quietly weaves complex themes throughout twelve tracks which are both soothing and, at times, perplexing. Throughout the record Iafrate ponders sex, death, and god in a manner that imparts a sense of their interconnectedness to the listener, without forcing ideology onto them. A hypnotizing record which deftly shifts gears from the melancholy to the jovial, O Happy Marriage slips from quiet folk to country rock and back again without ever missing a beat.

O Happy Marriage opens softly with “Under Heaven/Over Hell” and instantly establishes religion as a major theme on the record, but one that is delivered gently without any pretense of answering life’s hard questions. “Marantha (a Prayer for the Kakistocracy)”, possibly the album’s strongest track, points out that, “we’re building churches to people not gods, like a temple created for fun, we’re building churches: churches to dogs”. It’s a point that is hammered home for the listener and one that doesn’t miss the mark. Whether it be the finger picking of “Monsignor New Dealer” or the full band assault of “Song of Songs” the record provides moments of beautiful instrumentation that provide a springboard for Iafrate’s haunting vocals.

Though some of the topics are heavy, the music is not. “9 or 10 a Night” contains some of the darkest material on the album, but also delivers one of the catchiest choruses as well. “Heyday Babe” provides the album’s most accessible moment, a country rock sing a long with minimalist lyrics. O Happy Marriage even closes with a Foreigner cover. Yes, that Foreigner. Except that while the original “What Love Is” may have been delivered with all the cliché cheese of early eighties pop radio, Iafrate and company turn the tables on the original. Slowed down and delivered with feeling over a mid tempo country rock backing, it actually stands out as one of the album’s high points. It just goes to show what you can do if you strip away a lot of the trappings and focus on the emotions conveyed.

O Happy Marriage is a hypnotic testament to the complexity of life, love and religion, but even more so, it’s a testament to what a little well crafted songwriting can do.

O Happy Marriage is available online or locally at the Den. (But wouldn’t it be a better idea to ask for it at Generic Chain Records at the mall, and then throw a fit when they don’t have it, demand that they support local music, and then just buy it at the Den anyway?)

Folk is the new Punk - Sean Decker, Mikey Iafrate, and David F Bello

Lately -- as in the past few weeks -- I've noticed that some of the edgiest, sharpest sounds in this town are being made with an acoustic guitar and a voice, which proves again that greatness is not necessarily a factor of what one uses, but how one uses what one has.

And ain't that what the spirit of all the best rebel music is anyway? The Ramones (et al.) had three chords and a rudimentary drummer to work with, and produced -- out of this simple equation -- timeless, fist-in-the-air anthems that no one will ever be able to top. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (et al., again) had a couple of turntables, and some voices; they (among other rap/street/hip-hop pioneers) used an even simpler equation to spark a phenomenon that forever changed the face of popular music.

Thus, when I get to experience some intense, beautiful, angry, smart music being made with an arsenal of one (or two) instruments and a voice, I get turned on. Sure, 'folksingers' or 'acoustic singer-songwriters' are a dime a dozen; go into any open-mic and you'll see one, running down a set of Eagles (or worse) covers, with a 'sensitive', 'heartleft' original thrown in there. But once in a great while, if you're lucky enough, you'll run into one that goes far beyond the call of the mundane and mediocre. One that isn't concerned about what the 'genre' wants.

Aren't we lucky to not have just one, but three of these talented folk?

I wasn't able to see a full Sean Decker set until last Friday at the Corner Cafe. I was blown away by his smart tunes (though I may be off the mark, I'd place him somewhere betwixt Elvis Costello, 70s folkie obscuro Tim Buckley and the doomed, etherial Nick Drake), and a classic pop voice that channeled Nick Lowe and Paul McCartney . I know he has a split CD with Mikey Iafrate (another local favorite of mine -- more about him in a minute), but I wouldn't be able to tell you how to find it. Perhaps someone could hip us to its location and availability in the "comments" thread. And as soon as I find out, It's mine, and then I'm gonna eat, drink, and sleep Decker/Iafrate for the next six months or so.

Mikey Iafrate (now of dain bramage merchants COBRA , neo-new wavers Drown Culture, and country muddafolkers The Priesthood) can charm the most hardened, bitter old bastard (I'm living proof!). And he's a pro. When you see Mikey you know what you're gonna get -- deep, echoey, wooden tones, accompanied by some of the most intelligent lyrics about politics, love, and faith I've heard since Johnny Cash's heyday, delivered by a earnest-yet-calming voice. Mikey may be the only artist I know that transform "I Want To Know What Love Is" by Foreigner into a jaw-dropping power-hymn, into what Mikey himself calls a song of spiritual yearning.

Within the past few months, David F. Bellow has been on the minds and the lips of many Morgantonians. Rightly so. Sure you can play the hallowed indie-rock pastime of "spot-the-influence" (I myself hear Daniel Johnston, Jeff Magnum of Neutral Milk Hotel, and Syd Barrett), but there's more to David's music than a tangle of inspirations. His music itself is a tangle of inspiration! The last time I saw him (with the almighty Sandra Black, last Thursday at 123) I was taken somewhere else. Escapism? Not on your life -- David's songs (as the best songs do) brought me closer to life; the experience wasn't simply a musical one, this was being born and unborn. Coming for your children in the middle of the night. You know, all the stuff that made, say, The Stooges so viscerally important, and in this case it's in the shape and form of a twenty-year-old genius.

These weren't songs, they were a series of near-death and a near-life experiences. And in twenty-odd minutes it was over, and I wanted it to start all over again. Buy David's CD The Hair on Yr Head -- but consider yourself fairly warned: its effects to not wear off easily.

So, there's room for folk music in this 'burg, no? Always has been -- look at the great stuff produced by Todd Burge and (semi-Morgantonian) Owen Davis. Great acoustic music has always been something of a tradition in Morgantown, you've just had to look for it. These three gentlemen are right in our own backyard, and to me, they represent nothing less than the next step in the evolution of local underground music.

The Rosewood, New Blood

Recently someone suggested that the Rosewood Theatre was hurting financially on one of our comment threads, and it seemed like a good time to discuss the bar. Last night "Christmas Magic" and I attended the incredibly packed Rasputina show and I began to see how this place could be a really cool setting if the right bands came out. Full house, a show that was appropriate to sit through, good beer and wine and Stoney's for the cheapsters, and the sound, to me at least, was decent.

So why have they been having financial issues? Why aren't all of their shows having lines that wrapped around BW-3 like last night. Well, I'm sure everyone's got their theories, but I'll give you mine. It seemed like Gary had been booking touring acts appealing to a narrow demographic of Morgantown's populace. That's just me seeing from the outside looking in. Given, that demographic is ignored by 123 for the most part, but it's tough to imagine them supporting an entire venue.

That said, Gary does seem to have opened up the booking to include a lot of differing styles and some local/area acts (the Emergency, 6'6" 240, the Recipe, the Argument) and I think that's going to be necessary. I see more local acts that would normally probably play at the Brewpub (Vern's Pot o' Chili) and I think that's a good thing for them. There is some overlap with 123 but I think Gary is getting a little bolder with it and I think there has to be a little bit of overlap or there's no room in town for them.

The other problem they may have had is that for whatever reason, they have had some pretty bad sound in the past and treated local acts playing there in ways that can be described as anything from frustrating to intolerable depending on who you ask. I myself have experienced this firsthand and for a long time expected to never perform at an event there. However, I'm told that a lot of the problems have been smoothed over and let's hope this is true.

The last thing I'd like to mention is that I've heard there no less than four new bands in the works. I've heard at least one passing by their house and I'm really excited to hear all of them. As I said at some point in time, we need some new blood in the scene badly. There are a lot of excellent bands in town that have good draws, but a lot of them are starting to play too often and it could be a detriment to them. A few new bands will fill in a lot of holes. Also I note that the Devolvers seem to be back and playing Saturday's opening slot for the Walkmen, which should be great [EDIT: Joe confirmed they're not playing the show, I guess it was a communications error. Hopefully they'll be playing some shows soon though]. COBRA are one of the bands I was referring to in the four, which is a more 'rock' sounding band that I'm told is essentially the same lineup as Drown Culture. Their debut show is Saturday week. Another new band will be opening up for the Emergency at their Rosewood show this Friday, and they haven't yet picked a name I think. But make sure to come out early, what I've heard was pretty awesome.