shows we're excited about

It's gonna be a busy concert going week for us here at Ugly Purple Sweater HQ. I'm most excited about Old Harriet, who are playing a ludicrously under-advertised show at George Mason tomorrow night at the student center at the Fairfax campus. Old Harriet are 15 year-old Harriet Anderson (guitars, harpsichord, vocals), Vicky de Vocht (15 yr, drums) and Leslie de Vocht (14 yr, bass). I saw them in Akron, their home town, a year ago, and they completely killed.

Also, Bonny Prince Billy is coming to town on Saturday at the Birchmere. I saw Superwolf perform when I was in college a couple years back, and they looked like a posse of recently foreclosed upon dust bowl Kansas farmers too weak to farm anymore, so they loaded their belongings into a rickity pickup truck and began touring the country, playing for their supper, stealing pies off windows when they couldn't find a soul who'd listen.

Couldn't find a good video of "My Home is the Sea" off Superwolf, so here's "Home by the Sea" by Genesis.

The new BPB album "Lie Down in the Light" is terrific. The lyrics and the cadence and the peculiar, graceful but sharp-edged melodies are immediately engaging. It isn't catchy, exactly--catchy is something that marches right up to you and slams you a big one in the kisser. "Lie Down" makes you lean in real close and listen hard, and try to sort out what's pretty from what's just a little bit unsettling.

Also exciting: Deleted Scenes will be at the Black Cat on Thursday (and why does a band with an album that got a 8.0 from the grinches at Pitchfork book the side stage in their home town?) with the gentlemen of Casper Bangs who'll be making the debut. Yes, Rob for some reason wants to look like he's in Vogue. But we can forgive him for that with a record this good. Have a listen.

Hope to see some of you all there.