Music Notes

Photo by Sara Bill He didn’t have the microphone in his hand anymore. Didn’t need it, either. Tony Bennett was on his 23rd song of the night, winding up a personal tour through his 60-plus-year career. He’d taken the packed Riverside Theater from an opener of “Watch What Happens,” to a duet of “Hey Old Friend” with 40-year-old daughter (and opening act) Antonia Bennett, and, eventually, on the requisite stop to see his heart in San Francisco. Twice, the silver-haired man in the sharp while shirt and dark suit asked the crowd if he should keep singing. Both times, they…

  Let’s get right to it: Vampire Weekend put on a truly fantastic show on Milwaukee’s lakefront Wednesday night. Now armed with a three-album arsenal for their live shows, the New York City four-piece charged through a 19-song, 75-minute set that featured much of 2013’s Modern Vampires of the City along with the band’s best tracks from 2010’s Contra and 2008’s self-titled debut. The band ended the show on the night’s highest note – a high energy rendition of “Walcott,” one of the band’s earliest recordings and one that still ranks among its strongest work to date. The night’s killer…

For being such spaced-out psych rockers, Calliope is quite prompt at delivering new records. After releasing last year’s Doors and Animals influenced self-titled full-length, the meaty, esoteric four-piece returns with the shorter, fuzzier six-song Orbis. I talked to the band about the recording process, Austin Psych Fest, and a deadly Aaron Rodgers’ gauntlet idea that inspired the title track. You recorded your debut album at a cabin in Minocqua. Is that where you recorded this one?  Al Kraemer (vocals, keyboards): Yup. Was it the same process?  AK: Our first album we took a guy named Mike Hoffman up there. He…

RMonday, June 2: Gipsy Kings with Ole Noys at The Riverside Theater, 6:30 p.m. ($42-$67.50) The French-born ensemble Gypsy Kings has been strumming classical guitars and banging bongos for more than 25 years. Over the course of 13 studio albums, the outfit has plied its trade in traditional flamenco music, earning a handful of Grammy nominations for Best World Music Album, the latest being its Grammy winning 2013 record Savor Flamenco, which beat out the two highly respected musicians Femi Kuti and Ravi Shankar. (116 W. Wisconsin Ave., PabstTheater.org) Also: Kenny Reichert Trio at Von Trier, 8 p.m. (FREE) –…

Before outdoor day drinking swallows the entirety of our non-working lives and an unrelenting hangover plagues the other portion, let’s recount the best things that happened in local music this past month. 10. WTF? Marc Maron cuts some guitar for Trapper Schoepp and the Shades’ next record While recording the new Trapper Schoepp & The Shades album in Nashville, drummer Jon Phillip and bassist Tanner Schoepp crossed paths with comedian and podcast host March Maron. Any listeners to Maron’s show know that the cat-loving stand-up has a passing interest in the guitar. So, naturally Phillip and Schoepp asked the intrepid…

Canopies gave us a quick hit from its forthcoming debut record this past February with the music video for its first, trippy single, “Miss You Now.” Now, it’s unleashed the new psychedelic synth track, “Getting Older,” that’s less spacey and more pop-orientated than its previous output. Think Tame Impala’s elusive pop melodies yet without such an utterly bleak outlook on life. The song is immediate and accessible but still offers some apprehensions lying beneath the surface. There’s no cinematic accompaniment this time, but feel free to stare endlessly into the most kaleidoscopic visualizer from your computer’s music player. You can…

Tuesday, May 27: Diecast with Sworn Enemy, I AM HERESY, Silence the Messenger and Above Charted Waters at the Metal Grill, 6 p.m. ($10) – (5036 S. Packard Ave., Cudahy, themetalgrill.com) Wednesday: Man Forever with CAVE and Soup Moat at Cactus Club, 9 p.m. ($8) Man Forever is the experimental drumming project of Kid Millions—not the Milwaukee rapper, rather, the alias for percussionist John Colpitts, who’s hammered the skins for the Brooklyn psych rockers Oneida and toured with Spiritualized. The polyrhythmic compositions from his latest collection, Ryonen, elicit the same hypnotic reaction to psychedelic rock but with much more grace and…

Forgoing professional assistance to record an album often leads to an exhausting, strung-out process. While musicians gain the opportunity to relax throughout the recording since the imposing financial burden of an hourly studio rate is eschewed, sometimes that relaxation creates too comfortable a situation. As costs decrease, the attention to detail rises and the quest to perfect every instrument and level quickly becomes an insatiable undertaking. A number of bands that I’ve interviewed over the years loved the freedom and convenience a home studio provides, but ultimately realize the ceaseless minutiae never stops. Refreshingly, The Delphines isn’t a band that…

Tuesday, May 20: Degreaser with Cyanide Tooth, Dog Problem and Slow Walker at Quarters Rock ‘n Roll Palace, 9 p.m. ($7) – (900 E. Center St.) Wednesday, May 21: Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration featuring Warren Haynes at the Riverside Theater, 7 p.m. ($45.50-$55.50) There are countless ways to see the music of the Grateful Dead performed live—from sloppy barroom cover bands to founding member bassist Phil Lesh and his oft-rotating outfit Phil Lesh and Friends. But not regularly can one catch a 43-piece orchestra delving into Jerry Garcia’s oeuvre. Allman Brothers Band guitarist Warren Haynes takes the lead on what’s…

Monday, May 12: Ice Balloons with Babes and The Sounds of Time at Cactus Club, 7 p.m. ($7) Milwaukee Psych Fest never truly ends at Cactus Club, the kaleidoscopic visualizers and conspicuously skunky odor simply go on hiatus. The festival ostensibly returns with the trippy, crunchy drone of the Brooklyn-based art punk group Ice Balloons. The band’s most notable member, TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone, stays hidden behind a balaclava sewn to resemble a fly’s head. Their performances are—as one would expect—bizarre, off-the-wall and absolutely memorable. (2496 S. Wentworth Ave., CactusClubMilwaukee.com) Also: KIINGS, Adoptahighway and The Demix at the…