This Week Rocks




It's a great week for music in Cleveland. The venerable Martha Wainwright is performing tomorrow night at the Beachland Tavern! If you haven't heard of her, get off my blog (j/k). If you have, you realize how amazing it is that she'll be performing in the small, intimate Tavern!!

Then there are The Futureheads on Thursday at the Grog. I couldn't ask for a better venue for either artist! Check out my past entry on the Futureheads when it was announced they were coming. Keep reading for the promotional text for the shows.

Tues. June 7 Martha Wainwright / Good Morning Valentine
9 PM, $10, Tavern
Martha Wainwright has a big personality. Like her brother, Rufus, she composes folk-based pop tunes with rich melodies, but where he prefers elegance, she seems constantly on the verge of a primal scream. Wainwright’s nervous, slightly raspy voice adds simmering tension on the sweetly melancholy “Far Away,” which could be a Carpenters song gone wrong. She plunges headlong into anger in “Ball and Chain,” a stormy tale of predatory sexuality, crying, “Why does this always happen?” then turns to self-loathing, exclaiming, “I will not say I’m all right for you,” accompanied by stark acoustic guitar on “B.M.F.A.” (a.k.a. “Bloody Mother F**king Asshole”). Such confessional angst is never depressing, however: Wainwright’s willingness to embrace emotional extremes produces thrilling music that’s utterly cathartic. Part ingénue, part punkster, strong and vulnerable all at once, with a hugely expressive voice and an arsenal of powerful songs, Martha is a beguiling entertainer and a refreshingly different, new force in music. Martha is the daughter of folk legends Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle and sister of acclaimed singer songwriter Rufus Wainwright. Born in New York City and raised in Montreal, she spent her childhood immersed in music and often performing with her parents. She took the first step in her own recording career in 1998 when she contributed her song "Year of the Dragon" to her mother and aunt's album The McGarrigle Hour. And yet the emotional world Martha describes in her music is one of personal uncertainty and emotional fracture. Her songs are unswervingly honest about her own insecurities and fears. Fears about her own talent, her place as a woman in relationship to men and love in general. Martha Wainwright follows the 2004 release in the United Kingdom and the recent American release of her debut EP, Bloody Mother F##king Asshole. The response to BMFA was immediate and landed Martha on many year end lists. In the January 2005 issue of Mojo Norah Jones listed her as one of the "best things she heard all year. Martha recently took a turn performing on film in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator starring Leonardo DiCaprio in which she portrays a sultry torch singer. Her song "I'll Be Seeing You" was added to the film's soundtrack.


Thurs. June 9 The Futureheads / High Speed Scene / Coffinberry
8pm $12 adv / $14 dos
Taking the best of post-punk, new wave, and pop as inspiration, Sunderland's the Futureheads were among the best of the U.K.'s "angular" movement, which also included Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party. The band began as a trio of vocalist/guitarist Barry Hyde, bassist Jaff, and drummer Pete Brewis. Hyde and Brewis were tutors at a lottery-funded organization called the Sunderland City Detached Youth Project, which aimed to get kids off the street by having them play music instead. The band -- whose members were still in their teens themselves -- also used the building as a practice space, along with other area groups. The rest of the Futureheads' lineup was also culled from the Sunderland City Detached Youth Project: vocalist/guitarist Ross Millard and Hyde's little brother Dave, who eventually took over drums duty from Brewis. The band released its debut single in late 2002, and followed it up with two more singles in 2003, 123 Nul and First Day, both of which were issued by the Fantastic Plastic label. 679 stepped up to release the band's self-titled full-length in mid-2004. That fall, The Futureheads was released in the U.S., coinciding with the band's support slot on Franz Ferdinand's North American tour. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
 

Posted: Mon - June 6, 2005 at 12:00 PM           |

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