Thursday 09.18.08: MILES BENJAMIN ANTHONY ROBINSON / BLACK DIAMOND HEAVIES @ echo

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson || Watch

Life definitely handed Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson loads of lemons (and first names), but he chose Atmosphere’s route and painted that shit gold on his self-titled amalgam of alt-country, blues, and garage grit. Even without firsthand experience of “tits dragging in the dust,” you can’t help feeling the ache in this multi-racial Brooklyn-via-Oregon troubadour’s tenor. The 25-year-old’s ruminations on homelessness, alienation, and trying (and failing) to kick drugs hark back to David Ryan Adams, Jeffrey Scott Tweedy, and Townes Van Zandt at their most downtrodden. Thankfully, Robinson’s self-knowledge and self-conscious attempts to avoid veering into clichéd tortured-artist territory serve to cut the tension nicely: On “Buriedfed,” he declares: “This is my last song about myself/About my friends/Find something else to sing.” – The Village Voice

with:
Black Diamond Heavies || Listen

8:30pm / $7 / 18+