Ezra Furman @ Solar Culture Saturday

After watching the Wildcats kick UCLA's ass tomorrow, I'm going to head downtown to check out Ezra Furman & The Harpoons at Solar Culture (though I can't blame anybody who picks Why? @ Congress).

I first heard of Furman a couple years ago via Paste writer and blogger Andy Whitman, who dared use the New Dylan tag, calling Furman untamed, freewheelin' and manic, and saying the then 20-year-old "sings like his skull is ready to explode." So, I checked out Furman's debut album, Banging Down the Doors, immediately. Whitman was right. I put "Hotel Room in Casablanca" on a mix, and grabbed Furman's follow-up, last year's Inside the Human Body.

Furman is the very definition of raw talent, putting together two fantastic albums before evening coming close to scraping up against his mid-20s. This is mostly acoustic music, but it's pulsating with adrenaline and urgency. His lyrics rush by, a stream of language covering more ground than I would have thought possible. And it's perfect for his rapid fire singing, unpolished and nasaly, but like John Darnielle or Jeff Mangum or Dylan himself, Furman can pack his voice with enough unhinged emotion to launch his songs into the stratosphere.

DOWNLOAD:
Ezra Furman - We Should Fight
Ezra Furman Live on NPR's World Cafe
Ezra Furman Live Daytrotter Session

LIVE:
Oct 24 – Tucson, AZ @ Solar Culture
Oct 25 – Scottsdale, AZ @ Chyro Arts
Oct 27 – Norman, OK @ Opolis Coffee
Oct 28 – Houston, TX @ Walter’s on Washington
Oct 29 – Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
Oct 31 – Hot Springs, AR @ Maxine’s
Nov 1 – Little Rock, AR @ Juanita’s
Nov 3 – Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone Cafe
Nov 5 – Nashville, TN @ 3rd & Lindsley
Nov 6 – Atlanta, GA @ The Drunken Unicorn
Nov 7 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
Nov 8 – Charlottesville, VA @ The Southern
Nov 11 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
Nov 12 – Stevens Point, WI @ The Encore – Univ of Wisconsin
Nov 13 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Nov 14 – Iowa City, IA @ The Mill
Nov 17 – Columbia, MO @ MOJO’s
Nov 18 – Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
Nov 19 – St. Louis, MO @ The Firebird
Nov 20 – Indianapolis, IN @ Vollrath
Nov 27 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door