Spotlight on Danish band Efterklang

Efterklang, September 9 @ Beachland

This time ’round on the Beachland blog, we hail the lovely sound of Danish collective Efterklang, who’ll play the Beachland Thursday, September 9th. Eftkerklang’s exotic but thoughtful compositions are pretty but capable of laid-back fun, always willing to take a walk in the Metroparks and on the Lake Erie shorelines, but also up for a glamorous night out painting the town red.  Efterklang keeps itself in shape, but also doesn’t mind binging on beers and a good cookout!  Efterklang’s looking for someone cool to hang out with–no headcases, please–between 21 – 35 years of age…ah, we’ve been on Chemistry.com too much of late, haven’t we?

Learn more about this band in this great Aurgasm interview.

Let’s take the time to also talk about Denmark and showcase its capital, Copenhagen, which also happens to be Efterklang’s home.

1. Copenhagen is home to the world-famous music Roskilde festival, one of Europe’s biggest.  Last year’s festival features such headliners as The Pet Shop Boys, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and Grace Jones.

Image by Jamie Barras via Flickr

2. It’s also home to the famed Tivoli Gardens, the world’s second-oldest amusement park.

3. You can rent bikes in Copenhagen for free. Take that, gas-guzzling America!

4.Fueling up your bike trip, chow down on pølser (Danish hot dogs, essentially). If you choose dinner instead, you could have every kind of pickled herring dish imaginable–the Danes love this stuff–and complement it with beloved potato and bacon dish, Brændende kærlighed, which for all you Elvis fans, translates into “burning love”.

polser, the danish hot dog

5. Danes are pretty strict about obeying traffic lights. So should you jaywalk, they might think that you “træde i spinaten” (literally ‘trod on the spinach’, i.e. made a mistake) or even that you have “rotter på loftet” (‘rats in the attic’, which translates roughly into ‘crazy’)

6. If you just can’t get enough of Danes, check out this Danish Fun Fact Twitter Feed, where you might learn about sports like bunny hopping:

Oh, and they also love curling. They REALLY love curling:

Also on this bill–brought to you by our friends at the Grog Shop–is the wondefully noisy and unpredictable guitar duo of Buke and Gass, and Cleveland fave Leia Alligator’s Music Box.

Related Articles

• Introducing the “Efterkid” Strings of P.S. 859 (timeoutny.com)
• Buke & Gass touring w/ Efterklang — dates, album info, MP3 (brooklynvegan.com)
• Efterklang – Parades (idiomag.com)

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Keep On The Sunny Side: A Benefit for WRUW’s Cuzin’ Dave

Clevelanders: Here’s a chance to help a friend who’s moved beyond ‘fixture’ and into ‘pillar’. Cuzin’ Dave, WRUW DJ and host of “When The Roses Bloom Again”, a show focusing on roots music, needs our help.  He’s been hospitalized over the last month with a serious illness, so in order to cover his mounting health costs (sound familiar, everyone?), the Beachland, various friends and WRUW listeners, and musicians who’ve been on Cuzin’ Dave’s show, have pitched in to throw him a benefit this coming Monday, August 30th in the Ballroom.  If you don’t know Cuzin’ Dave, a swell guy, absolute music lover, and a consummate gent, you should check out his playlist archives to see the kind of tunes and artists that have bent his ear and warmed his heart.

Let’s first take a look up at this splendid lineup of folk / country / roots/ whachamacalit performers. Of course, as more people pitch in, this is subject to change.  Bookmark www.beachlandballroom.com for updates!

Hillbilly Idol
Hey Mavis
Jane Dough
Waxwings String Band
Rob Bliss Trio
Take This Hammer
Matt Harmon
Colette
Doug Wood
Quinn Sands
John McGrail

If you can’t make this benefit, but would like to help out with a monetary contribution,  send check or money order to:

Cuzin Dave Wilson
c/o WRUW-FM
11220 Bellflower Road
Cleveland, OH 44106

Additionally, if you have items to donate, volunteer time to share, or any thoughts and action that could be helpful, don’t hesitate to call the Beachland at 216-383-1124.

Doors for this event are at 7 pm, and the music starts at 7:30 pm. Be there early, regardless, as we’re certain more artists will join in this celebration of all things Cuzin’ Dave!

Cuzin' Dave and Mom

Big Shows Coming Up: Ozomatli, Shellac, Breeders

Though these shows are a couple weeks away, we simply must tell you about these real gems.  We’re letting you know that each of these is a potential sell-out–so act fast, and grab your tickets via the Beachland website, or call the club at 216-383-1124.

Ozomatli, Sunday August 29th

Sunday, August 29th – Yeah, we know it’s a Sunday. But where else you gonna get this much Latin rock n’ funk. It’s gonna fill your soul like arroz y habichuelas, alcapurrias, empanadas, y mas.  Come down to the Beachland on August 29th and get nourished by the flavorful soul of Ozomatli, a multi-racial band that can seemlessly move from funk, rock, hip hop, to acumbia / salsa / reggaeton matched by very few bands in our hemisphere.  These cats bounce with G-Funk LA prowess, roll like Parliament, bring it like Fishbone, and leave no musical stone unturned in search of The Total Summertime Party.

“Elysian Persuasion” off their latest, Fire Away, as performed on the George Lopez Show:

“La Gallina” from their breakthrough record, Don’t Mess With The Dragon. For all you hip urban farmers out there:

To commemorate this exciting show, the Beachland’s offering a live digital recording of show for the first 50 ticket buyers.  Call 216-383-1124 for details on that one.  Furthermore, paying $35 at the door not only gets you a ticket, but an Ozomatli messenger bag, a copy of Fire Away, and various other goodies like stickers and a bandana. Consider that a DEAL.

Warming you up before Ozomatli’s set is an Ozo Tailgate party, complete with a Tropical BBQ and tunes by DJ Felix from TropicalCleveland.com.  This outdoor feast starts at 6 pm; the concert starts at 8 pm.  It’s all been brought to you by the Beachland, Clamato (good for bloody marys, and hangovers!), Brazilian restaurant Sergio’s Saravá, non-profit arts education group Passport Project, and Latin entertainment company TropicalCleveland.com.

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Shellac, September 1

Shellac, September 1 / Breeders, September 2 – Flip from Ozomatli’s bounce to a two-night 90s underground buzz with a two-night stretch highlighting some of the nastiest and the nicest of that era in rock.

No one, for the last rocks quite like Shellac. Classic rock and punk riffs are stripped down to a true ‘heavy metal’ essence; that is, electric bass and guitar are made to sound probably akin to drywall saws, instead of the creamy, thick sound we’re all so familiar with.   Albini shouts, whispers and cajoles like an irritated PBS narrator; meanwhile, drummer Todd Trainor anchors this mechanical reimagining of rock with big, propulsive drumming.

Here’s the band, live in Serbia, playing their not-quite hit single, “Steady As She Goes”. Don’t think for a minute they don’t know this song’s main riff is mere notes away from Deep Purple’s “Highway Star”:

On the flip side, we have one of the many bands Shellac’s Steve Albini’s recorded throughout his career as recording engineer: The Breeders, still featuring the Deal Sisters (Kelly, and Kim, who played in some one-off band called The Pixies).

Yeah, you’ve heard this one on the radio before:

And here’s what the Deals have been up to. Here’s a tune from their latest, Fate To Fatal:

The Breeders are irrepressible live–it’s like your stoner punk rock aunts and their best friends, crashing your party.  Other good friends will be celebrating that night as well; pro-Cleveland pals The Founding Fathers–currently one of CLE’s most beloved bands–will be performing after the Breeders in the Tavern.  And if you get there early–as you should–we’ll be having food and drink specials in the Tavern before the Breeders show, with special hosts, DJs like Pat the Producer from 92.3 FM’s Inner Sanctum.

Need tickets? Get thee to www.beachlandballroom.com

Talking Heads tribute bands, Sarah Borges, and more

This Must Be The Band--a Talking Heads tribute--Wednesday August 11th.

Who could argue against the placement of Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense as one of the essential works in that genre? The Chicago-based Talking Heads tribute band This Must Be The Band certainly won’t dispute that; they bring their tightly drilled stage show to the Beachland on Wednesday, August 11th.

Opening is this guy, Justin Coulter, who’s chucked aside the pedals and amps he used in Roué to summon a new kind of Cleveland freakazoid:

If you’ve been listening to one of Cleveland’s radio newcomers, 107.3 FM, you’ve probably heard this sexy rocker from Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles:

Borges and her band  take the Beachland Ballroom stage this coming Thursday, August 12th, playing tunes that’ll make the boys swoon and the girls blow them off at the bar.

Far more off the radio radar is experimental folk group Lower Dens (helmed by singer Jana Hunter, whose history you can dig into, starting back to the thrilling days of ‘07), whose sound is nonetheless sensual and lovely in their own way. This video’s great if you blow it up to full-screen and indulge in a bottle of robitussin:

Lower Dens, Inoculist, and singer-songwriter Brian Straw will perform on the magical, mysterious night of Friday, August 13th.