Little Joy, and a little Low for the Holiday.

Hark! Let's talk about those shows I've seen now, then I'll discuss the Zou's new album, maybe compile a Christmas/New Year's mix (does anyone want one?) and make a few year-end lists. How's that sound? Any objections?

It's already been a month since I saw my last concerts of the year, excluding local shows. First, on Sunday, November 11th, I ventured out to Detroit with friends to witness a quaint Little Joy show. If you're unfamiliar, Detroit is the home of Communist America. Erm, I mean, Comerica Park, which, in turn, is the home of the Detroit Tigers. It's a warm, fuzzy city with steam heaters in sewers that gave us a homeless welcome. The venue was called the Magic Stick, although we weren't sure quite where it was. An option would be asking the homeless welcomemat man where the Magic Stick is, but he might've thought we were wizards. Ah, Detroit. The only city in America to unite Mexicantown and a Bridge to Canada. Don't ask, at this point, I was merely reading the signs. Also, after we parked at the nearby McDonald's, we stopped in for a restroom break. I held the door for a person who was supposedly thankful. Yet, afterwards, I saw that the door read the same words: 'Thank You'. For all I know, he might've been reading the door, instead of genuinely thanking me. If the door read 'Push', he might've said that instead. We may never know.

What we do know is that Joni Mitchell's voice is like a trumpet, and that's a good thing, according to Danny's comment as we listened to her 1971 album, Blue.

Either way, we found it, The Magic Stick. An indie bowling alley/bar with the concert in question upstairs. We partook in some billiards while Little Joy's tourmates The Dead Trees played with more bark than bite. Oh, I kill me.



Yes, I even have an Alf stuffed doll. Anyway, billiards took a turn for the insane when these three subsequent events happened:

1) Danny's cell phone fell on the pool table in front of my shot.
2) I blew a ball during my turn in the way of Landis' shot.
3) Danny hit a ball at Landis' broken finger (he had punched a cow on his farm that kicked him; don't ask, it's an udder rediculous story) while he was pointing something out.

I know, I know, we're practically the three stooges. I mean, there was even a girl asking us how much bowling cost. We explained that it was eight dollars for an hour of play, etc. After a brief discussion as to how this ranks in pricey-ness, I jokingly told her to quit using up our hour! To paraphrase Michael Scott from the Office (US edition), "I may be mean, but sometimes the ends justify the mean." Okay, well it was meant to be a joke, I promise. I mean, some of us laughed.

Little Joy, also known as Los Hermanos singer/guitarist Rodrigo Amarante, The Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti and multi-instrumentalist Binki Shapiro, took the stage conveniently not long after we finished our billiard'ing. It was a small crowd, so they implored us to pull up chairs and bar stools. Then, in a little over a half hour, they had expired their entire output, consisting of one half-hour long debut LP, and even knocked off this warm cover of Helen Shapiro's "Walking Back to Happiness". They made some jokes of their own, brought us a 'lotta' joy with their summer-tinged, bossa nova lovers rock. It's easy to enjoy the easy breeze of Shapiro's kind voice, like it was the steam emitting from the sewers. A nice touch to a dirty scene. Amarante pulls his weight with some great numbers, too, even if his voice is strangely Strokes-ish. This show was the convincing point where I knew they were one of the rare side projects to get it right, and also one of my favorite albums of the year. More on that later. Yet, after their brief set, due to their limited song selection, they invited all of us to a bowling encore. The idea wasn't even discussed between us as we embarked on the long trip home. For me, it was like a connecting flight back to northeast Ohio. First, back to Danny's rendezvous point in Bowling Green, then back to Landis' in Tiffin for the night layover, until I could finally return homeward in the morning. Ah, but please, don't watch me dancing.

More on the Deerhunter show next time. For now, the Planet Pluto would like to spread some Holiday cheer in the form of Low:



And what do you know, here's the best Christmas EP you could ever ask for. You can add it right alongside Sufjan Stevens' Songs for Christmas EPs, Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas and whatever other themed albums you may employ for the holidays. Perhaps I'll discuss mine next time we meet. After all, themes are even in the dreams of the rich. Everybody loves them for all their priceless joy. It's a little joy for the holiday. A joy of wonder, joy of light. You should listen to Low tonight.

Oh, what the hell, here's more Alf to the tune of Blitzen Trapper's Furr-y standout "Saturday Nite":