Youtube video of Gibson's in-store performance

Portland's Laura Gibson came into town recently to play a date at Urban Lounge. While she was here she graced Slowtrain in Salt Lake City with an in-store performance as a part of their awesome new music showcases.



Gibson show flyer

Gibson's beautiful and enchantingly sweet vocal style complement her very proficient and inventive acoustic guitar. As she played cuts off her first album and latest release Beasts of Seasons (currently on sale at Slowtrain), she began to win over the unsuspecting local fans and made me interested in checking her set out the next time she's in the region: April 4th w/ Brinton Jones and Damien Jurado at Velour in Provo, 8 p.m. $10.




Slowtrain crowd

Gibson also has a disarmingly sweet stage presence that accompanied her light banter superbly. Not many artists can pull off a good in-store performance solo but Gibson showed what the Portland scene and her new breed of singer songwriters are offering the world. Don't miss her the next time she slides into town.

(Jon Paxton)

Local Releases

Muscle Hawk

The Speed of Dark EP

Self-released

Street: 01.28

Muscle Hawk= Justice + Ratatat +
Chromeo

This band is fucking hot to trot.
Two guys on synths/computers
plus one lady on the drums formulates
the perfect combination for a
dance party. There is a reason one
of their songs is called "Cocaine,"
because MH is audio base. A
little baking soda, some shiny foil,
irresistible beats and some live
bass guitar (for taste) makes this
some of the purest dance rock
around. Sorry to mix crack and
freebase metaphors, but you get it.
These motherfuckers are cooking
up at 100 percent pure. I can’t
say enough positives, so I will let
your ears do the listening and your
head the bopping. Pick this up if
you like to get out of your gourd
and shake it epileptic.

Trouble on the Prairie

Virgins Pastors and Other
Disasters

Self-Released

Street: 02.30.09

Trouble on the Prairie= Shelley
Short + Band of Annuals + Mirah

Minimalist percussion and plaintively
delivered vocals make this
release one of the most haunting
local pieces I’ve heard in a while.
Band members Big Red and Little
Fran create a lot of atmosphere
with only some sparse acoustic
guitar, a shaker, a tambourine on
some songs and a small drum kit
on others. I inherently respect the
desire to have just two instruments
on a song if the songwriting can
fill in the gaps, but I also think that
there is something to be said for a
bass in this case, even if it’s just on
studio tracking. If there is one on
most of these tracks, I didn’t hear
it. In addition to bass, I say include
a pillow with this EP because,
barring the last track and "secret"
song, it’s yawn inducing.

National Releases

I.U.D.
The Proper Sex
The Social Registry
Street: 03.24

I.U.D. = Growing + Gang Gang Dance
The
dream combination of Sadie Laska of Growing and Gang Gang Dance’s Liz
Bougatsos reads as a no-brainer collabo. But it’s a tad different than
you might expect from the pedigree of this group. I.U.D. is dark and
brooding. Some of this shit is really sonically bizarre but entrancing
at the same time. "Please let me in," a sampled line from some
frightful movie, is replayed under Liz’s iconic reverberating vocals
and some industrial beats on "Monk Hummer," creating an altogether
disturbing vibe. But it’s good. Not party music but something for the
more depressed side of your manic depression or something to play at a
wine-tasting in Brooklyn for you hip fucks. I say more Gang Gang, less
Growing next time, please.

Reigns
The House on the Causeway
Monotreme Records

Street: 03.17

Reigns = Ready Aim Fire + Forest for the Trees + Tosca
This
album is good enough to not be easily defined. It has touches of
modernity in its instrumentation (very electronic) but harks back to a
simpler time in music with additional suspenseful piano-tinkering and
very efficient finger-plucked guitar. The majority of tracks eschew the
use of vocals but they aren’t missed - the structure and craftsmanship
are that engaging. The lyrics are also very interesting: "I am your
father/Please don’t go out there/Everything beyond these walls has been
razed," (cut 4) portrays a post-apocalyptic world where corpses are
picked clean and poison "will take hold if you cross the threshold."
This isn’t for everyone, but I immediately gravitated toward its
neo-new-wave stylings and dire lyricism. The melancholy overall tone
suits the mood for the middle of winter. This is shit to succumb to;
don’t fight it, you will only suffocate all the faster.

––by JP

Screwed and Tattooed, Six Ways 'til Sunday: The 6th Annual SLC Tattoo Convention

Screwed and Tattooed, Six Ways 'til Sunday: The 6th Annual SLC Tattoo Convention
by JP

March 2009 [View Issue]

The link definitely has better views of the pictures than this one does.

The telltale whir of many tattoo machines, a New York accent echoing on a PA and mariachi music (if you’re lucky) greet you upon entering Salt Lake City’s tattoo show. The sixth year of this colorful festival had some new editions, mainly in the art show department, and a special display I particularly enjoyed: what I’m calling the Upskirt Limbo. Note to next year’s female contestants: Please keep accidentally wearing skirts to the Limbo contest.


Body art artists from all over the world now descend every year onto Flaco Production’s (CJ Starkey and Nate Drew of Lost Art Tattoo shops) finely executed convention. Japan, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, U.S. states as far flung as Hawaii and Alaska, and neighbors as close as Idaho, are all represented by artists - including piercers - with row upon row of booths full of clients. Tattoo conventions are unique among all others. The collective feeling in the air of needling pain can actually be heard, combining with the sight of blood dripping from under the cellophane of fresh and colorful new ink, makes for an almost tactile experience for observers. It is spectacular and one that can only be felt at this event.

Tattoo conventions aren’t only about watching people squirm under the needles, they’re also inspiring showcases for the talent of the artists in the form of daily contests. I walked into the Salt Palace through a crowd of cowboy hat-sporting Latinos with their hot Latinas as music from the Hispanic Valentine’s Day dance bled lightly through the walls to mix with the audio from the awards ceremony. It made an interesting sonic backdrop in the tattoo convention hall for MC Chris Longo, the Mayor of Tattooville, and his Brooklynese-inflected shenanigans. A character, tattooed to the gills (literally), Longo consistently spouted some hilarious shit. In response to a contestant’s portrait of a life-size cock: "Jesus Christ! Look at the whacker on that guy." And in speaking to lovers with matching feet tattoos he actually said "the two of yous." I didn’t even know people said that shit, but the Mayor’s east coast roots were showing like black on a bleach-blondebitch’s head.

Tattoo of the Day ran three days straight and was split up three ways. Fortunately for underrepresented female tattoo artists, one of their own received that distinction twice. Darcy Nutt of Boise, Idaho won for her bearded lady tattoo––a traditional "old-school" design––and for a perfect portrait the next day. Some of the male artists were miffed at this, but the sets of three expert judges were completely different each day. Nutt was very impressed at her luck and humbly, and honestly, said "That’s cool man. But art is in the eye of the beholder. On one hand I aknowledge its bullshit and the other hand it’s very flattering. You don’t see a lot of women winning tattoo of the day, so that was very rewarding." Especially twice. The winners of tattoo of the day received Dringenberg & Co. machines and I suggested Nutt split up her pair and give one to the duo of artists from Reno who won the final day’s contest. She politely declined.

Absolute Tattoo in Nevada had two of their artists, John McCann (formerly of SLC) and Rick Clark, take their plaques for Tattoo of the Day home for their work of a skull in a foggy night replete with snake. Sounds a bit played out, but the gentlemen spent a few days on the excellently executed backpiece and brought some nice dimension to the traditional images.

February seems to be a great time to host the event and bring some tourists into town to stimulate things. CJ says, "One of the reasons we set it in February is so people can come out and take a vacation. The children area is really good you can bring your whole family. A lot of people come out and rent houses and stay at the hotels for like a week at a time." At a time when Utah, boycotts included, really needs some cash the guys at Flaco are helping out. "The recesssion didn’t bother us one bit," says Nate. "I think even if the economy keeps tanking we’ll be OK here," says CJ. And next year? "We’re working on it already. We’re expecting to get even bigger. We’ve got another art show planned. We’re trying to get new interesting vendors and we’re gonna have to get some new tattoo booths. These guys are so busy some people can’t even get tattooed." And what a sad world that is, where pigment-starved throngs go un-tattooed. Look forward to next year: the faint mariachi music, the tattooed wonders, and even more gallons of ink guaranteeing no one goes home empty-skinned.