• Cymbals Eat Guitars

Loss is universal.

So even though Cymbals Eat Guitars created their third album with some very specific losses in mind, the intention was for listeners to find their own meaning in the songs, to connect the emotionally driven indie rock with their own lives.

In August, the New Jersey to New York quartet — guitarist and singer Joseph D’Agostino, bassist Matthew Whipple, keyboardist Brian Hamilton and drummer Andrew Dole — released LOSE, a coming-of-age album that sets its sights on some very serious themes.

“We were combing through the lyrics looking for a title and nothing seemed to fit. Matt suggested that and it seemed obvious,” D’Agostino says. “There are multiple meanings. There’s the personal loss that inspired the record. There’s the loss of enthusiasm for music you had when you were younger and everything seemed really meaningful. It’s also an invitation for people to lose it, to cast off whatever it is that’s keeping you in your box.”

Saint Pepsi, a.k.a. songwriter/producer Ryan DeRobertis, is coming to Congress' Thursday night cool-kids fest Opti Club on November 13 (a while away, but mark your calendars) with his upbeat, light funk take on summery pop sounds, but while you wait, why not listen to his 35 minute disco mix for The Fader? A little Klique is bound to make your afternoon move by a little faster.

There are quite a few Tucson-based Kickstarter projects you can support right now, but clearly, the most promising option is Nick Shelby's Johann Sebastian Nickelbach project, which is entirely what it sounds like:

The reality is that Nickelback makes big, bombastic, accessible music and, whether you like it or not, that means they have something in common with U2, The Beatles, Sinatra, Richard Wagner and Johann Sebastian Bach. The Beatles, Bach, and Beethoven were all mainstream and they didn't give a flying f about it... and we don't see anybody doubting their greatness, either....

The goal is to fund this project by the time Nickelback's new album drops on November 4th and hopefully we can build on one another's momentum. If this project is successfully funded, everybody wins!!! Nickelback fans hear something that is really good and hipsters lose their minds in their abyss of irony. Nickelback gets paid to keep doing what they love and their fans will be exposed to a kind of music they may have otherwise ignored. Nickelback rocks, Bach rocks, and our orchestra is going to f'ing rock... hence NickelBACH! By naming this project in his honor, we will be compelled to remember that Johann Sebastian Bach, despite being pretty damn popular in his time, wasn't regarded as one of the world's greatest composers until long after his death.

While Shelby is somewhat concerned that the classical community might not embrace this particular project, he hopes the $100,000 he's asking for will " adequately help them overcome any misgivings about participating in this project." Classical folks aren't likely getting rich as it is, so he's probably right.

Sadly, while the project launched on Sept. 5, no one has coughed up a pledge yet, which is surprising since $25 gets your Chad Kroeger-esque growl on the record somehow, but hey, there are 38 days to go, so dreams still can come true.

Herm, who clearly doesn't have enough going on, is launching a new night of dancing and frolic at Flycatcher tonight: "COLD SWEAT, a funk and soul getdown."

To get a sense of what sort of soul jams you might hear tonight starting at 10 p.m., we asked Herm for his Cold Sweat top five:

• Brenton Wood “Gimme Little Sign”
A tasty morsel of sweet soul, the man’s specialty. Not necessarily a dance floor filler, but one that helps set the mood just right.

This is the second year that some smart and creative folks have designed and built a guitar to support the All Souls Procession - remember that the Procession happens entirely from donations, no sponsors or government support - and considering the work (by DJ Odious, Doc Hudson Guitars and Moises Orozco) that went into this stunning thing, the $5 it costs to get into the raffle seems like a bargain.

Tech stuff for people who have some idea what this stuff means, from the raffle's website:

Solid Mahogany body — hand-rolled fretboard — Flamed Maple 24 3/4″ scale Neck — Medium jumbo frets — Grover style tuning machines — GFS Power Rail humbucking Pickups (15.8K bridge and 10K neck) — Top-loading Hardtail Bridge — CTS Pots — Sprauge Orange-Drop tone Capacitor — Switchcraft Jack.

More info from the guitar's builder, Simon Davenport, via Facebook:

I spent the afternoon test-driving the thing through a two-channel tube amp and a 2X12 speaker cab. As gorgeous as it LOOKS - it sounds and plays even better. There were times while building it that I wished I'd gone with basswood for the body instead of mahogany. Its lighter and MUCH easier to work (its a softer wood, closed cell structure, with similar tonal characteristics) but having played it I'm glad I didn't! I played, blues, rock, pop, jazz, even (forgive me!) "Smoke on the Water". It handled all of them with ease. I didn't try country or death metal - not genres I've spent any time with. The overwound pick-ups LOVE an overdriven amp - sustains forever. Stick it in the clean channel and its clear, warm, and articulate (also with great sustain) with a nice balance between the bridge and neck pickups. Even rolling the tone all the way down it refused to get muddy. The maple bolt-on neck even lets you pull a nice Fender-like quack that makes me think it'd work fine for country - It'd be interesting to see that! But I built it, so I'm not exactly an unbiased opinion - I'm looking forward to other guitarists playing it and getting their views.

Tickets go on sale this weekend, with the winner announced at the Dance of the Dead event at the Rialto on November 9. You can pick up tickets at PopCycle, Borderlands Brewing, Tucson Thrift Shop, 5 Points Market and at various events around town. Follow the raffle on Facebook for more info.

I've clearly reached that age where one finds young people and many of their interests confusing, so the idea that I would choose to listen to music on cassette is wildly befuddling to me (Hey, do you miss when you couldn't really skip songs without a significant hassle? Me neither!), but hey, if you enjoy antiquated methods of listening to music, you'll be psyched to hear about Cassette Store Day, happening this Saturday, Sept. 27.

Zia Records will have many, many cassettes available for purchase from people you've likely heard of, including They Might Be Giants, Karen O (from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Julian Casablancas (of the Strokes), the Circle Jerks, friend of Tucson Robyn Hitchcock, Testament and of course, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees PIZZA and their immediate classic "#funeral".

However, if you're trying to keep things a bit more local purchase-wise, Zia will have a compilation called You Heard Us on Cassette Vol. 2 for sale, featuring bands from their three markets - Tucson, Phoenix and Las Vegas, with tracks by Brian Lopez (“Modern Man”), Prom Body (“Money (I Hate You)”) and Chicha Dust (“Como Un Ave”).

If you'd like a preview, you can listen to the cassette comp on Soundcloud now:

More info about Cassette Store Day at the event's website.

One thing I really appreciate about the Rialto is that you get some strange back-to-back-nights show combos there...one night it might be a flamenco-inspired guitar act, the next, the Insane Clown Posse. They just book acts people might want to see and people in Tucson tend to want to see interesting stuff.

Tonight, you get one of those weird genre collisions on the same night, as Buckwheat Zydeco plays the early show and Easy Star All Stars play the late show (and if you want, you can see both shows for one ticket price).

Here's what I wrote in Soundbites last week:

An interesting double-bill of sorts at the Rialto on Thursday, Sept. 25 with two shows on the same night—Louisana legend Buckwheat Zydeco at 6 p.m. and reggae cover artists Easy Star All Stars performing later that evening. If you enjoy fun, you'd probably be into Buckwheat Zydeco who has been playing music for an exceptionally long time, but focusing on the accordion in the late '70s. Zydeco is about the most danceable music out there, so expect to see a lot of people shuffling around the Rialto's floor.

Easy Star All Stars is something else entirely, a reggae band largely created to create covers of popular albums in the Jamaican style, most recently a take on Michael Jackson's "Thriller," but probably most famously their album "Dub Side of the Moon," which they'll perform at the Rialto front-to-back. It sounds a little cheesy (especially considering there are a ton of third-rate "[Fill in genre here] tribute to [popular band] albums out there), but the band's legit and even deeply cynical music critic types have generally agreed that the Easy Star takes hold up on their own. For what it's worth, their version of Radiohead's "Let Down," featuring Toots of the Maytals is one of my favorite covers ever.

Opening for Easy Star, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, who have an incredibly ridiculous name, but play a really interesting take on contemporary reggae with a good chunk of jam band culture thrown in. My general beef with these sort of bands is that there are barely songs there underneath the jamming and aesthetic, but GPGDS's songwriting holds up, especially on their new material from the album, "Steady," coming out at the end of the month.

You can get just a ticket for the Easy Star show ($15), but for $24, you can see Buckwheat as well. Hell of a deal. More info at rialtotheatre.com.

You might remember the indie-electronic-collage-folk act The Books from the illustrious decade of the 00s. Well, you might remember them if you're the type of person who reads Pitchfork everyday, they weren't exceptionally famous in the larger sense of music notoriety, but they were a duo making unique and interesting music - speaking of Pitchfork, the site placed the Books' first album, Thought for Food, on their top 200 albums of the 2000s at #125.

Nick Zammuto of the band has been on his own for awhile, performing under his surname along with his brother on bass, bringing that project to Flycatcher Thursday, Sept. 25, promoting his new album, Anchor. Anchor's an interesting mix of placid electronica, the collage work of his previous band and occasionally a weird funk romp ("IO," which has an awesome video shot at Zammuto's Vermont farm and featuring a giant slingshot). Like The Books, it's a little hard to say exactly what Zammuto sounds like (I mean, he barely sounds like what he used to sound like), but if you're interested in hearing someone with a lot to say playing around with his toys, you'll want to head to Flycatcher for this show.

Tickets for Zammuto are $12 for the 21 and over show at 7 p.m. More info at Stateside Presents.

I think I've mentioned in a dozen times now, but I'm super excited for the David Bowie is documentary showing tomorrow night at the Loft. I've actually had a screener for the film for a few weeks, but I haven't wanted to watch it on my sad not-terribly-large work monitor, because I feel like I'd be missing something out of the experience.

Here's what I wrote in Cinema Showdown this week:

There are approximately one hundred films showing over the course of this forthcoming week at the Loft (two nights of "The Wrath of Khan," a week of "The Zero Theorem" and "To Be Takei," two more Tarantino flicks, etc.), but the highlight of this week in Tucson film for me is the David Bowie documentary "David Bowie is" showing on Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. A documentary accompanying an art exhibition created by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and currently travelling the world, the film looks at Bowie's magnificent career, explored through bits of the exhibition, including photographs, music videos, costumes and interviews with his collaborators and admirers. I guess your interest in this film would likely depend on your interest in Bowie himself, but if you care at all about rock 'n' roll, I'm not sure why you wouldn't be fascinated. Tickets are a little more than the regular Loft film, $12 for general admission, two bucks off for members, but as often happens with music-related film, Zia will be there giving stuff away.

For more info or to buy tickets in advance, head over to the Loft's website.

If you have two feet, then the show at the Rialto (318 E. Congress St.) tonight, Friday, Sept. 19 is going to make them happy, with maybe the only things missing is a newspaper-lined table piled with crayfish, potatoes and corn; and a hurricane poured in a tall glass.

Doors open at 7 p.m. and show starts at 8 p.m. with New Orleans R&B legend Marcia Ball and Zydeco roots musician Terrance Simien. Tickets for the all ages show are $16.50 to $30.

I love the ring-true description the Rialto shared on its website: "Her music mixes equal parts simmering soul fervor and rollicking Crescent City piano."

Marcia Ball's new release, The Tattooed Lady and the Alligator Man is described "With raucous horns punctuating Ball’s legendary piano pounding and emotional, melodic vocals, the new CD mixes Ball’s New Orleans R&B, swampy Louisiana ballads, and jumping, Tex-Mex flavored zydeco into a one-of-a-kind musical gumbo, a sound she has been perfecting over the course of her four-decade career."

Simien is all about challenging stereotypes we have of Zydeco music. Tucson — you must go tonight.

8th generation Louisiana Creole has been shattering the myths about what his indigenous Zydeco roots music is and is not. Leading his Zydeco Experience band, Simien has become one of the most respected and accomplished artists in American roots music today. He and his band mates have performed over 7000 concerts, toured millions of miles to over 45 countries during their eventful career.