It’s great to know why musicians do what they do. Why they write songs about heartache or joy. What kind of emotion they’re trying to express. Who they most look up to. That’s the magic of what they do. But then there’s the science of it. How do they make the most raw or sensual sounds come out of their instruments?

For this week’s edition of Grinding Gears, we sit down with Todd Grantham, keyboardist and all-around good guy of The Quivers. He gives us the exclusive on stealing vibraphones, pling-plinging and the burns.

Read our interview at the link here!

You can also preview The Quivers’ latest EP Gots To Have It! at the Bandcamp streaming link below. They’ll have physical copies at their show at The Brick this evening.

-Michelle Bacon

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On Saturday, Sept. 8 from 12:00-5:00 pm, a Legal Bootcamp for Musicians will be presented by volunteers from the Kansas City Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts at Czar. This event is part of the Crossroads Music Fest (Sept 7-8). 

This intensive workshop will provide attendees with knowledge on a variety of topics including copyrights, contracts, financing, and business formation.  Lunch will be available for purchase. Advanced registration is encouraged. 

1. Opening remarks/Welcome – Information about the KCVLAA and the content of the day’s presentations – Rebecca Stroder, Mandiant Corporation, 12:00-12:10 pm

2. Have A Cigar: An Overview of Music Industry Terminology, Publishing, Licensing, and Trademarks – Information about the common terms used in the music industry, explanation of some of the components of the publishing industry and general licensing and trademark information – Donald R. Simon, Simon Business Consulting, Inc., 12:10-1:00 pm

3. Take the Money and Run: After Proper Documenting, Withholding, and Reporting – Explanation of the income tax and sales tax requirements of musicians and insurance needs – Ryan L. White, Evans & Mullinix, P.A., and Nicole E. Forsythe, Kutak Rock, LLP, 1:10-2:00 pm

4. Stairway to Law: Legal Steps to Protect Your Band’s Future – Information on why bands need Limited Liability Companies, the administration essentials of those companies and the importance of band agreements and their provisions – Christopher S. Brown, Van Osdol & Magruder PC, 2:10-3:00 pm

5. A Kiss Is Not A Contract So Why Care (About the Contract)? – Explanation and discussion of common contracts provisions that musicians see in publishing contracts, performance contracts, rental contracts and others, examples of sample contracts will be provided. – David L. Rein, Jr., Finch & Campbell, LLP, 3:10-4:00 pm

6. When Weezer Calls Jamie: The Balance Between Marketing Your Work and Enforcing Your Rights – Information on marketing music while maintaining control of intellectual property and enforcing the musicians’ intellectual property rights – Rebecca Stroder, Mandiant Corporation, 4:10-5:00 pm

General admission is $15, $10 for members of Midwest Music Foundation and Crossroad Music Fest performers and attendees. Free for members of KCVLAA. Tickets can be purchased and more details found at the link here.

More info about Crossroads Music Fest will be coming soon.

–Michelle Bacon

When Casey Burge and company packed their leather pants and headed for the coast, it was a tough blow for Kansas City’s thriving music scene. There is little room to question that they were losing both one of their most eccentric and fiercely talented family members.

Minden had slammed onto the scene with a hipster pop meets dance rock sound, turning heads of indie snobs and shaking the asses of scene girls. Having the ability to go note for note and toe to toe with any band in the surrounding area, Minden had gathered a massive following. Due to their ability to kick in teeth and fill bars, a majority of the scene pouted in unison at the announcement of their departure. But alas, even the addition of Google Fiber couldn’t make them stay. Skipping town for Portland, Oregon’s thriving and bearded scene, the band’s first full-length album, Exotic Cakes, which was recorded at Element Recording of Kansas City by producer Joel Nanos (bro-love), would only be partially an “816” release. For this review however, we’re simply going to assume Portlandia is a long reaching suburb to the KC Metro.

Upon first listen, Exotic Cakes is a touch underwhelming. While spectacular in both production and musicianship, the album seems to lack the hooks essential in pushing a release right over the top. The truth is however, that they are there. They’re just sneaky little bastards, slipped into the folds of the band’s unique songwriting. Once the listener dives deeper into the "dance-if-you-want-to" qualities of the release, they’ll find tiny hidden quirks buried and layered in the mix. If committed to the growth process of an album, the average listener will be blessed with Minden’s ability to give. They’re like a Christmas tree that never runs out of presents, regardless of how many you manage to open.

Elements of Minden’s magical live show manage to slip into their release and cling to the listener like glitter on a dance hall floor. The energy that can be heard in the approach of the band is unquestionable. There is no room to deny that the band adores the music they are making. Take “New Age” for example. The drum- and vocal-based track oozes sexuality and begs for a slow grind. The shifts from the chorus to the verses manage to be balanced somewhere between smooth and unexpected. This keeps the listener both interested and on their toes. Chances are, if you know what chord progression or instrument is coming next, you’re probably in the band. Minden is either that ahead of the curve or bat shit crazy.

One might be able to make a logical case for both. I’d be willing to argue that they were brilliant in an “Andy Kauffman” kind of way.

Score: 8/10

-Joshua Hammond

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I realize how much of a hipster this is going to make me sound like, but David Thomas Jones is the best new indie act off the block and he hasn’t even released an album yet. I know, I KNOW. But Jones’ new single “Our Lives” and his wide accretion of musical projects is well worth the premature praise and, more importantly, your time. While being the front man for the immensely entertaining and immensely lo-fi band Watch Out For Rockets, Jones has played drums for The Murdocks, played bass for Scan Hopper, and is currently co-producing Les Rav’s fourth record. Such a hardworking and talented individual should not go unnoticed. His new single sounds like The Talking Heads mixed with The Drums – if only David Byrne weren’t so disappointed with humanity in general. Its rhythm is energetic and the backup vocals are charming to say the least. Jones has shown that the typical indie dance song doesn’t have to be maddeningly unintelligent. – Taylor Browne

I guess September is approaching! Until a few days ago we were struggling to find interesting stuff in our press releases, now it’s an explosion of pre-releases, this one from Hooray for Earth, from an upcoming single on Devecote Records. – Read a Deli interview with the band here.

Brooklyn via Australia High Highs is one of the best example of artists playing what we call "Mellow Core" – i.e. a branch of pop that’s at once very melodic and slow (check out also Lia Ices, Dark Dark Dark and Chris Garneau). The band put out some incredibly beautiful tunes in their debut EP – this is our favorite – and has been working on their debut album for quite some time, while accumulating an impressive 10k+ Facebook fans. They just premiered the track below from the upcoming LP, which is as dreamy and soft as expected. – Read a 2011 Deli interview with High Highs here.

Take a deep breath, let it out. Roam has given us a breath of fresh air with new single ‘Wake Me Up’ (streaming below), perhaps the band’s most epic sound to date. If the vocals sometimes take a backseat to the urgency of the music, this only makes their eventual climb to the repeatedly screamed refrain ‘wake me up’ feel all the more towering, when it finally hits near the song’s end. It’s not often I hear a group blend haunting anthem over jangly rock basics

The NY quartet has just released an EP, and they are fashioning their first full-length as we speak (and making some line-up changes from what I hear), I’m hoping we’ll hear more from the band this fall. In the meantime, you can see them live at Rockwood Music Hall’s Stage 2 on August 18. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Photo Source: River Giant

River Giant are hitting the High Dive stage this Thursday with The Crying Shame and The Swearengens. 

The trio released their debut full-length this April; the eponymously titled River Giant soars and wails its way through ten tracks. Their fondness for bands ’70’s era bands like Crazy Horse and The Band jumps out readily, but not in an overbearing or detrimental way. They tackle motifs of Americana through their modern lens of alternative rock music.

The strength of their songwriting is what sticks out first – they know how to build a foundation of a song without making it wearily repetitive. From there, they add upon the established contours by working to excitable climaxes, slowing down passages, or letting guitarist/vocalist Kyle Jacobson fly high with his pipes like a wild river on the loose. Their use of dynamics is appreciable in every song.

"Pink Flamingos," "Western," and "Fast Heart" are a few standout tracks, among others. At moments they are straightforwardly country rock, other times heavy rock ignited with feedback, and other songs sound downright folksy – taken in full though, River Giant cannot be pinned down by the confines of a single genre. Good luck getting their songs out of your head once they snake their way in!

They play this Thursday, August 10th at the High Dive for $8. Doors are 8pm; it should be a racuous affair. Check out "Fast Heart" below for a quick listen and carry on their bandcamp to stream the whole record. It is available for purchase for $10.

– Cameron LaFlam

Clementine has always had a strange knack for taking familiar sounds and finding new soundscapes for them to exist in. With band in tow, Clementime & the Galaxy, one of The Deli Magazine’s Best NYC Emerging Artist of 2011, is ready to project those sounds through the stereoscopic lens of her upcoming record.

For first single ‘Complication,’ Clementine overlays an 8-bit tapestry on top of a maze of never ending breakbeats, making her voice the only refuge throughout the track’s breakneck pace. Complicated indeed… but we are happy to follow vocalist Julie Hardy around until she figures it out. No longer playing second fiddle to the likes of Ellie Goulding and St. Vincent, Hardy is now embarking on her own tour with the Galaxy, and is set to release a new album soon.

See her when she hits up 92YTribeca this Friday, Aug 10 with Johanna and the Dusty Floor. Should be the best place to see them if you find yourself stuck inside of Earth’s orbit this weekend. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

What’s most interesting about Puerto Rico/NYC based band Fantasmes’ latest album “Redness Moon” is not necessarily the obvious, but rather what is happening “underneath.” “Cloud Prepositions” emerges through a slow, purposeful, rising groove. Droning background pulses underscore prominent tambourine percussion, tubular-belled guitars and eno-esque treated keyboards. The vocals are muted and obscure, creating mood over storytelling. The title track “Redness Moon” (video below) is more defined, with its driving drums and layered arpeggiated guitar chords. The tom toms rumble like beat keepers on 15th century warships, adding a tense quality to this already mysterious soundscape. “Play It Wrong” keeps the vocals just as vague, but adds a harsher electric guitar to the mix. Distant conversational vocals are just out of earshot, adding to the mysterious nature. This allows the percussion to move forward, sharing prime sonic real estate with aggressively struck guitar chords. “Dance in the Shadows” slows it down again, with gentle acoustic guitar leading the way. Vocal lyrics become clearer, with the line “I should be there” as a repeated refrain. “Passages” brings back the trippy drone, slow building guitar chords and masked spoken word vocals. It is beatless, but again trance-enducing and meditative. A clearly defined rhythm initially drives “Monsters’ Mother” until that too abruptly lurches into a Doors-like humming trance and erratic drum-centric passage. A third movement closes out the track via a fuller (but rhythmically different) driving, with moaned vocal amd guitar-flailing raveup. “Let it Repeat” presents the kind of twisted toy piano plings and chimes over ominous humming that you might hear in a horror movie. That half-a-minute contribution serves as a segway into “Today is Still.” Surprisingly the lyrics can be made out here with the line “there are days like these I’m sure I’m never coming home” setting the stage. Ancient Chinese bell percussion clang and ping over bright guitar picking, creating an atmospheric tour-de-force. – Dave Cromwell

REDNESS MOON – FANTASMES – (MUSIC FILM) from Last Bummer Records on Vimeo.

Wanna hear about split infinitives? How about the proper usage of "who" versus "whom"? Okay, maybe not. But this week we’ll be hearing from Appropriate Grammar‘s very own Steve Gardels. He tells us about his self-taught approach to drumming, his career with the Hopeless Destroyers, and the KCAI "fart box." Catch the beat right here!

On The Beat is a weekly interview brought to you by drummer Sergio Moreno (of Hillary Watts Riot and Alacartoona), and features some of the many talented drummers in the Kansas City area.

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Like everyone knows, hip-hop got its start by DJs continuously looping the hottest breaks of funk/R&B songs at house parties. So a space that was originally about 10 seconds would be stretched to three or four minutes.

I feel like Brooklyn based producer Derek VanScoten’s project – called just D.V.S. – with their new album ‘Coming Up For Air: Vol. 2 dawn‘, has done something similar with electronica. Active in the same musical playground of other groove-happy maximal groups like Ratatat or Fuckbuttons, D.V.S. expands on smaller loops, and builds worlds around these otherwise simple statement. Derek’s twangy, often sliding guitar is the glue that keeps the pieces of this musical universe together.

Album opener ‘The Bending Bloom’ for instance, orbits around a single hook for its four minutes, expanding and contracting for an organic series of turns as unique as it is engrossing. The band even ventures into R&B material the way Flying Lotus updates free jazz for the mobile generation. From their first record’s focus on dusk, to their latest LP’s meditations on dawn, D.V.S. is an exciting group that knows how to make good use of their sources. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)