Previews: Marianas, Ester Drang, The Sea and Cake, Califone

Marianas has a new website and it looks pretty good (nice work Aaron). I heard some of their album, which should be coming out around April 1, and it sounds really good (along the lines of Fridge, Hood, Radiohead’s Kid A, and even Sigur Rós). But download some MP3s and decide for yourself.

Speaking of upcoming releases, I heard a cut from the new Ester Drang album which comes out April 1, and it got me really excited. More sweet, atmospheric pop with some nice jazzy flourishes and oh so lovely slide guitar.

I caught Califone and The Sea and Cake up in Omaha this past Thursday. Once again, it was a case of the opening band completely outshining the headliner. I’d never heard Califone before, but their set blew me away. Long, rambling pieces that felt like equal parts Wilco and Flaming Lips, their songs felt like they might fall apart at any time but kept stumbling forward. Parts of their show felt like noise for noise’ sake, as they’d spend 2 or 3 minutes making an awful racket. However, they’d always find a way to incorporate that noise, after sculpting it with their effects pedals and whatnot, back into the song in unexpected and delightful ways.

My only complaint is that they had a steel drum onstage and never used it. Which was odd seeing as how they had about a gazillion other percussion intruments up there, some of which looked like they came from the band’s kitchen.

I’ve decided that The Sea and Cake are a small doses band. If you listen to about 5 or 6 songs, their music is very beautiful and infectious, but any more than that and it quickly becomes boring. It’s obvious they’re incredibly talented, especially their drummer (John McEntire, who also plays in Tortoise), and their music was absolutely smooth and perfect. But it was perfect to the point of becoming completely innocuous. And it doesn’t help matters that nearly all of their songs sound exactly the same. All of the songs’ parts felt completely interchangeable; they probably could’ve swapped basslines or keyboard parts between songs without anyone noticing.

By comparison, Califone’s music had a number of rough edges and tattered bits, which turned their music into a patchwork quilt of sound. Their music was loose and shambling to be sure, but that just drew me in all the more.

The only real downside of the evening was getting a warning ticket for having a burned out headlight. I know it’s pretty minor, but I hate car issues. I know this may cast doubt on my manliness, but I’ll never enjoy dealing with them. I’ve thrown so much money into that thing in the past 2 – 3 months; it’s sad to think of all the CDs and DVDs that I could’ve bought with that money instead. However, I am pretty proud that it’s made it past the 100,000 mile mark.