Nativemind

I had quite the unusual weekend for me – two long nights in a row soaking up the music of good friends. Last night's show was nativemind. Again, great stuff. Songs from Beauty in Motion, and I'm so excited about their new material and the auditory direction the band is heading in! Woo! Excited about the new upcoming album as well. More photos here!

Mp3: nativemind - Ashes to Ashes (Buy)

Cuba w/ Travis Dillon

Last night was quite possibly the best Cuba show I've seen. They're infectious. It seems like every time they play live, the place is filled with two kinds of people: the ones who love Cuba already and the ones who will by the end of the night. They just work so darn well together. Their energy is palpable, remaining charismatic and buoyant even when frontman Jon DaCosta put his foot through his poor, poor guitar.

Cuba played songs off both of their albums, Sounds Like a Story and Epilogue, plus new songs that are shaping up excellently. New album soon.

It was good to see Travis Dillon as opener, too. Good stuff. See more photos from the evening!

Mp3: Cuba - High Fidelity (Buy)

Local Nectar: Book Nation

I am so excited about Book Nation's new storefront. Todd Nation has had this business going since 1991, making it Terre Haute's oldest independent bookstore, but lately it's been hidden in an upstairs room with sporadic hours. As of last month, though, the haven for books now has a great storefront space in downtown Terre Haute.

Last night was First Friday in TH, the one night a month that you'll actually see people out on the sidewalks enjoying bits of culture. We stopped by a few art galleries (more on them later) and wandered into Book Nation, where Todd and a friend were unpacking books and working on setting up the store. Boxes of books make me so darn happy. The place is already starting to acquire the delicious old-book smell, and though lots of shelves are still empty, what material is already out gives a quite hopeful indication of the store's new potential. For instance, Sarah gleefully stumbled upon some great Russian-language short story compilations. Who would have thought???

(It was a mutual surprise – as much as Sarah found the discovery unexpected, Todd Nation was thrilled someone finally wanted the random Russian books he'd had for years!)

You can look at more pictures I took of Book Nation, or just stop by yourself. It's going to be a sweet place.

Book Nation: 677 Wabash, Terre Haute

Loney Dear: All the cities are sleeping (don't know them at all)

Last Friday I was in Omaha visiting my friend Nicole and our mutual friend Andrew Bird. AB was marvelous, nothing less than expected, in fact so great that there isn't much to say about him that hasn't been said already.

A quite happy surprise was the opening band, Loney Dear. Two points:

1. Awesome music.
2. The frontman's name is Emil.

I feel he/they are gaining in popularity with their latest release, Dear John, but that was $15 and I only had $13. So I asked which of the two early releases (The Year of River Fontana and Citadel Band) the guy selling the CDs recommended, and then I looked up to realize I was talking to Emil Svanängen himself, and he told me I could have them both for my $13. Sweet!!!

I kind of like the starting-at-the-beginning thing. I think I'm going to sit with these two CDs for a bit before I venture into the newer releases. It won't be hard to do, because I CAN'T STOP LISTENING TO THEM. Ack. So good. The first listen was driving through cold Iowa on the drive back from Omaha. Mark pointed out Loney Dear's obvious influences/similar sounds (sigur ros, the shins, radiohead...) and it's all true, and a good thing, too, because Emil likes the kind of music I really like and then made more music I really like.

Mp3: Loney Dear - Over the Mountain (Buy)
Mp3: Loney Dear - Hold Me (Buy)

Chanticleer Building

Today I stumbled upon this rooster.

Chanticleer Building: 24 N. 6th, Terre Haute