The Live (and sometimes not) Music Review

The Mekons at The Bell House on July 31, 2009 and The Murcery on August 1, 2009

2009-10-12T20:43:00.010-04:00

So for my first review on the re-started blog, I'll be reviewing a show that I went to that is also available online. Well sort of. I saw both Mekons shows. The first was at The Bell House, was "acoustic" (more about that later) and not recorded. For that one I have pictures. The show at The Mercury is available here at NYC Taper. No pictures though. I'm sure you can find some if you look around. But what more could you want if you can get the entire show on MP3 or FLAC?

So first, a discussion about the first show. I was hoping that it was a mistake when The Bell House had the set listed as acoustic. I had good reason to hope since they seemed to be using the promo material from their 2007 tour. Unfortunately, this not a mistake. The band played seated and "acoustic" like they had in 2007. Why do I keep putting acoustic in quotes do you ask? Well that's because everyone except for the drummer played the exact same instruments both nights. The real difference was that the band played seated and the drummer played a hand drum set the first night. Other than that, there was nothing more acoustic about one night versus the other.

One thing that could have made the first show more acoustic than the second one would have been Tom Greenlaugh. Unfortunately, he was not with The Mekons either night. Jon explained that he had some family business he had to deal with. Whatever that means. So yeah. That was the big disappointment for both nights. However, Susie Honeyman was with them the first night, and I don't think I've ever seen her play with them live. So that was nice.

Anyway, I still haven't said anything actually reviewing the first set. Honestly, I think they might have been better off without Tom. That last time (Fall 2007) he seemed out of it, and I think he was forgetting words to songs. This time they also played a good mix of songs from different albums. I think only maybe 2 or 3 albums weren't touched at all between the two shows. It wasn't a tight set by any means, but in a spacious venue like The Bell House, this is hardly a problem. If my memory serves me correctly, they came back for two encores. I didn't like the friend they had sing "Heaven and Back." The guy couldn't even remember the words.

But really, I had few complaints. I could come up with 10 songs I love that they didn't play, but I also heard them play 10 others that I love just as well. With a band that's been around as long as The Mekons, you can't expect to hear more than half of your favorites.

So my last disappointment about The Mekons shows was that the 2nd night, they played a nearly identical set. There were probably no more than 5 songs that were played one night and not the other. This was really disappointing when they played the quieter material from Natural the second night. I don't dislike any of those songs, but they were played pretty heavily the last time I saw them, and I definitely could have used more full on rock songs. That being said, both sets were fantastic, and "Memphis Egypt" and "Where Were You" were enough to complete my night on Saturday.

And what about the recording of that second show? It's pretty good. Clear sound. NYC Taper does great work. You can hear the audience cheer in the middle of "Cockermouth" when Jon ripped his shirt open. On some of the quieter songs, you can hear people talking, but that's going to be the case with any non-soundboard recording in a bar. Mostly, you just hear The Mekons in all of their glory. I wish the guitars had been louder, but that's probably because of the absence of Tom. I highly recommend it.

I am Re-starting this blog

2009-10-11T18:56:00.003-04:00

From now on this will be the Live (and sometimes not) Music Review. What does that mean?

Well first, and most importantly, it means I'll be writing in this thing again.

Second, I will renew my focus on live concerts. In fact, I'll make it a goal to review a live show every single day. I'll probably come closer to 4 a week. Will I really be attending 4 concerts a week? No. I will be reviewing concerts that can be found online as well as concerts I have attended. Some of the ones I attend will turn up on NYCTaper, but most will not. I will be reviewing shows that have previously been recorded and are available on all of the free tape sources on the Internet. I will also provide links to various resources as well as reviews of new sites as I discover them.

I do not record concerts myself. I don't have the equipment, the know-how, and to be honest, I don't really want to if there are other people out there doing it. Recording concerts would severely impair my ability to stand up front and shout as loudly as I want. It's just too high a price.

Probably my biggest resource for the time being will be the Live Music Archive. Hopefully other tapers will see this blog and give me more resources. It's my hope to encourage taping and sharing of live concert material. Music is usually best experienced in a live setting, and too few bands make their concert recordings widely available.

So moving forward, this site will provide nearly daily reviews of non-album live shows/recordings. I will also review new albums as I obtain them, but these reviews will be much less regular than the live reviews. Pictures will be available when I went to shows and my girlfriend took pictures. I also need to change the name.

Rated O by Oneida

2009-07-26T20:32:00.005-04:00

I saw Oneida Friday night and realized I'd failed to write a review of their album. I've failed to write a lot of reviews lately to be honest, but given how many times I've seen Oneida, I should at least say a few things about the new album.

So in case you haven't heard, it's a tripple album. Sort of. It's not a tripple album in the way that Sandinista was a triple album. This one really could fit on just two records. It clocks in just under 2 hours, and none of the three discs are longer than 40 minutes. But given that I only had to pay $15 dollars for it, I can't really complain. And once I finally listened, it was clear why this was a tripple album: each disc is totally different.

And the first disc is really the big shocker. Instead of opening with pulsing keyboards and shredding guitars, opener "Brownout in Lagos" is a mess of noise and programmed beats. And the vocals? That's a guest singer. And things just keep getting weirder from there. "What's up Jackal" features official Oneida member Hanoi Jane on vocals, but his vocals are so distorted that you really can't tell whose singing (I just know it's him because he sings it live. I could be wrong though. For all I know, someone else sang it on the album.)

Basically nothing on disc one sounds like Oneida. This can be enjoyable and interesting. But it can also be tedious and annoying. "10:30 at the Oasis" is a dozen minutes of electronics that makes for good background music, but really doesn't give me any of the thrills that I go to Oneida for. And "The Human Factor" is just awful. I have a firm policy of never skipping tracks on albums. I sometimes have to break that rule with this one. It's 10 minutes long, and while the first half is horribly boring (droning noise and unispired drumming), it's the final half that is excruciating. Basically, it's just a bunch of yelling. I can't make out any words, and I don't really care to even try. I usually just turn it down. This is by far the single worst track that Oneida has ever recorded and released. I took a moment to think that over. Yes. It is.

Disc 2 is what I had been waiting for. Not every unreleased song I've heardt hem play over the past two years is on there, but the four best ones are. And they're right up there at the front. Beginning the disc, frequent set starter "The River" quickly dispels any fears that the studio versions of these songs wouldn't live up to the live version. "I Will Haunt You", "Life You Preferred" and "Ghost in the Room" are also equal to their live versions. Which is to say, they rock harder than just about anything else out these days.

The remaining three tracks have not been live staples. In fact, I think I've only heard "Saturday" maybe once or twice. They're all pretty good, but after 4 solid winners, I find myself drifting. "It Was a Wall" is especially weak, but thankfully it's the shortest track on the disc. Compared with the first four tracks, the final three sound like Oneida running out of ideas. Listening to it, I feel like disc two is deliberately winding down to prepare us for disc 3.

Disc 3 provides something I knew I'd hear but hadn't heard performed live: new long jams. There are really just two on here, but that's enough to satisfy me. The Disc opens with "O" which is a pleasant 13 minute jam featuring lots of sitar heavy in the mix. "End of Time" is basically a three minute drone that gets you ready for the finally, "Folk Wisdom." Unfortunately, this jam just doesn't measure up to my favorite 10+ minute Oneida tracks (it does manage to be the longest though at just over 20 minutes). "Changes in the City" had more direction, "Sheets of Easter" was a bolder statement, and "Double Lock Your Mind" just rocked harder. This doesn't mean that "Folk Wisdom" isn't a lot of fun. And it's one of the few Oneida jams that falls off the rails completely halfway through and then manages to pick itself back up completely.

In the end I don't think Rated O will be the milestone achievement for Oneida that they might have hoped for. To be sure, it's a fantastic rock album, but other than the first four songs on disc two, it doesn't offer anything that they haven't already done better. This isn't much in the way of criticism given how good this group's previous efforts have been. And it's the second album in a row where they've managed to surprise a fan whose caught nearly every New York show since 2006. That's not an insignificant accomplishment.

And the show on Friday? Great as usual. The setlist was short, but they squeezed in 3 more songs after they "finished". Setlist as I remember:

Jackal
Ghost in the Room
Saturday
New Jam that I don't know
I will Haunt You
River
Up with People

So apparently I forgot to post Acid Mothers Temple Pictures

2009-06-16T21:44:00.005-04:00

I have a lot of other things to post, but I figure I can take care of this right now.

Saturday June 7 Bruar Falls: Dark Meat

2009-06-09T19:27:00.002-04:00

I was on the fence about this show. I have Dark Meat's only album, and I saw them last year. Both the show and the album were enjoyable, but neither really blew me away. The album sort of lost steam for me towards the end, and I thought a lot of the band members at last year's show were unnecessary. Especially the fiddle player who spent more time dancing around than playing her instrument.

This time the band was only a nine-piece with only one backup singer/dancer. The fiddle players were gone as well as the 2nd drummer. This was probably for the best since the stage wasn't even big enough for the band they had. The trumpet players had to play in front of the stage, and the band was still smashed together. But it worked. Everything sounded great, and the band was much more tight and focused than the previous show. They only played one song I recognized --"Three Eyes Open"; the rest of the songs were new. I missed "Freedom Ritual", but for the most part I loved the new songs. I had trouble singling any one song out as a favorite because nearly every song was at least as good if not better than the last.

And the band had just as much energy as last time, but it was more focused. Sure, the backup singer did more dancing than singing, but that's what she's better at. And the trumpet players were jumping around, but they were ready to play when their time came. And the one drummer seemed to accomplish just as much as two drummers did last time. I think the band benefited from playing in a smaller venue. This time everyone was forced to get close together, and the band could really feed off of the audience's energy. Last time, The Musichall of Williamsburg felt woefully empty. Hopefully things will pick up for Dark Meat. I can't imagine that they can afford to keep touring and losing money with the audiences they are drawing currently (probably a reason the band was scaled back).

Pictures soon hopefully.

PJ Harvey and John Parish: A Woman a Man Walked By

2009-05-31T21:53:00.005-04:00

There is an ongoing debate among Simpsons "fans" about whether or not the show should continue to exist. I've always been baffled by those who wish it off the air simply because the episodes over the last several years have not (supposedly) been as good as earlier episodes. I've never really agreed that they've been that bad, and even if they were, who cares? It doesn't make the earlier episodes any worse.

But after hearing the last 3 PJ Harvey albums, I am beginning to understand why someone might wish The Simpsons would go away. Each PJ Harvey album since 2000's Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea has been increasingly disappointing (and even that one was a disappointment when compared with her previous two efforts). These albums have been so bad in fact that it has poisoned the other PJ Harvey albums I have. The most recent collaboration with John Parish is no exception. While some of my disappointment can be passed off to Parish, it still manages to go back and taint Dancehall at Louise Point, an album from what I considered Harvey's best years.

So what's so bad about it? Just about everything. The music is rarely interesting, Harvey's vocal delivery approaches the obnoxious at points and the lyrics just sound a bit silly. From the beginning with "Black Hearted Love", the album disappoints. This is the kind of mid tempo rock song that might have been decent enough filler 15 years ago, but now, it's hard not to grow impatient. The album picks up with the second track, "Sixteen, Fifteen, Fourteen" which features less electric instrumentation, but a much more driving melody. Unfortunately, the next few songs are snoozers, and when things pick up with the title track, they don't move into any welcome areas.

I bought this album shortly after moving in with my fiance, and it can frequently make my enjoyment of music much more fraught than it used to be. Now, when I listen to a loud song that I love, I worry that I'm driving her crazy. There's always a dueling desire within me to turn the volume up to maximize my enjoyment or down to avoid making her miserable. No such battle takes place during the louder songs on this album. I just want to turn them down for both of our sakes.

Wednesday May 6, 2009, Bowery Ballroom: Akron/Family

2009-05-07T19:14:00.002-04:00

So in the last four weeks I've seen my three favorite live bands. And all three times I've walked away somewhat disappointed. With Oneida, it wasn't their fault, I was extremely tired, and the venue was suffocatingly humid and hot. And Acid Mothers Temple basically did what I expected them to do. But Akron/Family I had high hopes for, and they kind of let me down.

Why you ask? Well lets start with the set list:

They Will Appear
River
The Alps and Their Orange Evergreen
Gravelly Mountains of the Moon
Ed is a Portal
Creatures
Everyone is Guilty
Sun will Shine
Last Year
Woodie Guthrie's America
Crickets
Freestyle audience jam that I didn't stick around for

If you look at the setlists from the last shows, you'll notice that there's not a lot here that they didn't play those nights, and some great songs that I've been hearing a lot of were left out. Lake Song and Raising the Sparks were especially missed. I thought that they were going into Lake song towards the end of The Alps and their Orange Evergreen, but it didn't happen. Just about everything that bothered me about the last shows was present last night in greater quantity.

But what really had me disappointed was the length of the actual set. I've grown very accustomed to two hour sets from these guys. Not counting anything after Last Year, the set couldn't have been an hour and a half. From most bands these days, it wouldn't be bad, but Akron/Family has set the bar pretty high, and they did not live up to it. Even more alarming is that this is similar to the previous 4 shows I've seen where I just sort of assumed the shortened sets were due to circumstances. But no. Apparently now that they are a real three piece band (with horns/woodwinds backing them), they only play hour and a half sets. From a lot of bands, this would be great, but when amazing jams are getting left out of the set, it's a real bummer.

And then there's how they've been ending the shows. I was briefly excited to see Dana go back to the drums and Seth pick his electric guitar back up after Woodie Guthrie's America. I thought they might play a real encore. But no. It was Crickets. The most boring and useless song Akron/Family has ever performed. And then it got worse. Because for some reason the audience is supposed to sing the final melody over and over. This went on for what seemed like forever. Eventually some girls at front got impatient (not that I wasn't there 5 minutes before them, but all I could think to do was groan) and started stomping and chanting. Eventually this caught on and we got a pretty neat audience/band jam in the middle of the place. I might have been more into it if it hadn't taken so long to get there and the actual set had been better. Instead, I just felt kind of cheated and mystified at how people could be so into it.

I hope this doesn't mean the magic is wearing off for me. Nearly 3 years ago, before Love is Simple was released, I saw them perform at the Bowery, and it was one of the best shows I have ever seen, if not the best ever. They closed with Ed is a Portal like they always did in those days, and while the closing rap had never excited me, they somehow managed to turn the entire audience to mush by the end of the performance. Was I witnessing something similar last week, but unable to take part myself? Or was it really not as good? I don't have an answer, so this review is done.

Akron/Family: Set 'Em Wild Set 'Em Free

2009-05-05T20:47:00.002-04:00

This is a hard album for me to review. By the time it arrived in the mail, I had heard 9 of these 11 tracks live on multiple occasions. Because everything sounds better live (especially with Akron/Family), I was inevitably a bit disappointed. Making matters worse, I received the album on MP3 several weeks before the CD arrived in the mail. Since listening to the CD, I have found myself enjoying the album a lot more than I did at first. Further proof that MP3s do not sound as good as CDs. I just wish more people felt this way.

But even with CD quality (which I contend is as good as vinyl) sound, I find myself feeling disappointed and frustrated with this album. There are just too many songs that do not live up to their live versions. One, MBF, should not have even been recorded in the studio. This track is not as much as a song as it is Akron/Family playing as loud as they can. Seth wails away on his guitar and Miles screams. Live, it works. On the album, it's just kind of irritating and doesn't fit with the rest of the material which is mostly wonderfully melodic.

Penultimate track, Sun Will Shine also does not live up to its live version. The song only has one lyric "The Sun will shine and I won't hide" that gets repeated several times. Live, Miles only sings it a few times before Seth's guitar blasts it off into the most wonderful places eventually leading the audience into some beautiful but loud white noise. On the album however, the line gets repeated almost to the point of being obnoxious. And while the same guitar melody is played, it does not flow naturally into the white noise that concludes the song. The only song that is an improvement over its live version is Last Year, simply because the band doesn't insist that everyone sing along for 10 goddamn minutes.

But after listening to the album several times and getting further away from the live show, those two songs are really my only complaints. Sure, Akron/Family sound better and more adventurous live, but that doesn't make the album any less inspired. Their albums hold up better than those of their predecessor's The Grateful Dead. In fact, opener Everyone is Guilty might actually benefit from the studio treatment. The song has actually had a long road to travel before becoming an actual song. The first couple of times I saw it, it was just an instrumental (or nearly instrumental) jam that didn't seem to go anywhere. Now, the song is a tight and constantly shifting powerful rock song driven by a wonderful groove. The first time I listened to it, I found the constant tempo and melody changes jarring. But after repeated listens, I find myself craving it.

The band's other two rockers are also broken into movements. Gravelly Mountains of the Moon sounds like it's a pleasant acoustic singalong until around three minutes in when the electric guitars and horns kick in, giving the album an extra kick that it was needing around the halfway mark. My only complaint with the song is the "Put me in, let me run with the ball. Ha!" coda that concludes the song. Studio restraint does not manage to dampen my irritation with it. They Will Appear" is almost more successful, but the rock part of the song just feels to short. I once thought that it could eventually become their closer and replace Ed is a Portal (which has actually been replaced by Everyone is Guilty/Sun Will Shine/Last Year), but they haven't figured out how to make this one take off. It's a wondeful song, but not much of a jam.

And then there are the album's numerous smaller pleasures. The mostly acoustic The Alps and their Orange Evergreen, Set 'Em Free and Many Ghosts (the last two have not appeared live at any show in NYC) are both simpler wonderful songs that show what a great songwriter Seth is growing into. Dana's one contribution Creatures may not be the major work that Lake Song was, but it definitely makes the album more interesting.

Ultimately, I like this album. What had me disappointed is not what's on it, but what's not. Akron/Family have worked hard to cement their reputation as one of the most formidable live bands around today. And they have yet to release an official live album (they sell a live disc on their site and at shows, and included a DVD with Love is Simple), and I have seen several major set changes that have yet to be documented publicly in a live format. For their third album, The Allman Brothers decided to do a live album. The Grateful Dead did it on their 4th, and the MC5 made their first album live. So why the hell hasn't Akron/Family released a live album after five studio albums? I make this complaint about tons of bands, but this is by far the most egregious failure of a band to release a record showing them at their best.

Friday April 17, 2009, Mercury Lounge: Acid Mothers Temple, Sonic Suicide Squad and Floating Action

2009-04-18T17:50:00.001-04:00

We arrived towards the end of Floating Action's set, so we really just got to hear about one and a half songs. The first had a fairly solid simple riff that worked for me. The final song featured a toy piano. It was pretty mellow, but enjoyable. They seemed to have some enthusiastic fans in the audience. Afterwards, before Acid Mothers Temple, some guy who overheard me saying nice things about them felt the need to interject that they were "yacht rock". I didn't really agree with that assessment. Anyway, I've written enough about a band that I heard for all of ten minutes.

Up next were Acid Mothers Temple's touring partners, Sonic Suicide Squad. I was pretty sure I knew what these guys were going to do before I arrived. When I saw that they had a saxophone player and a trumpet player, I had my doubts, but within a minute into their set, it was clear that my first hunch was right. Sonic Suicide were a noise band. My friend Patrick claims her heard a bit of melody in one of their numbers, and I think I remember hearing one bit of structured sound, but for the most part, each piece was a slab of chaotic noise. They used some sampled spoken word bits, but other than that, there was nothing but noise. For some reason, the guitarist had 20 (we counted) pedals, but we couldn't hear any noticeable effects. Maybe they were being swallowed up by the guy on the various electronic equipment.

Anyway, for what it was, I thought it was enjoyable. They couldn't have played more than 30 minutes, and that was probably just right. Anything more, and I might have grown impatient. As it was, it was a nice warm up for the main attraction...

Last time I saw Acid Mothers Temple I was a bit disappointed. Half of the disappointment was seeing a band that I felt was going through the motions. The other half was the bastardized version of La Novia they performed in the middle of their set. This time they didn't even play La Novia. And it was the same lineup of the band that I had seen last year. And with maybe a couple small exceptions, they played the same set (Intro jam, Dark Stars in the Dazzling Sky, Slide guitar Jam, Pink Lady Lemonade with Cosmic Death Disco thrown in the middle, Milky Way Star) minus La Novia. But this night was better. They played a quieter version of Dark Stars before playing the full version that worked quite nicely. And I was actually getting into Milky Way Star this time.

It is disappointing to see a band that's capable of releasing as many as eight albums in a year play almost identical sets every time. There have been some changes since the early 2000s when every show included a 30 minute version of La Novia, but Pink Lady Lemonade remains the 30 minute centerpiece of their set. Kawabata Makoto even manages to include it in other Acid Mothers projects at least briefly. While it is a great jam, and the solos he unleashes for the 2nd half are truly stunning, it always comes with ten minutes of repetition beforehand. Sometimes the melody begins to build on itself, but this is never a guaranteed occurence.

But even if their sets evolve slowly, I will keep coming back. Even if they play the same songs, they are always looking for ways to make them more interesting, and no song is ever played the same way twice. But that's not even the point. Beauty never gets old, and watching Kawabata swing his guitar around his head while moving his fingers all over the fretboard is the most beautiful thing one can ever witness at a rock show. And as long as he keeps doing it, I'll be there even if they never change their set, because with all of the bands I have seen, none of them on their best days come close to displaying the perfect beauty of Kawabata Makoto playing guitar.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz!

2009-04-18T15:26:00.002-04:00

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs last album Show Your Bones proved that the group was more than just a gimmick. They were able to tone down the sonic aggression, develop their sound and still deliver captivating songs. Unfortunately, none of those successes are repeated on this album. While SYB saw the group adding acoustic guitars and synths to the mix, It's Blitz! is almost entirely dominated by keyboards, and that's a real shame since Nick Zinn was one of the most interesting guitarists around. This was always this groups secret weapon. Sure, Karen O is right out front with her vocals -and she's a very capable frontwoman, but it was Zinn that added that really made their music unpredictable and was as equally capable of beauty and agression as Karen O.

Unfortunately, none of that is on display here. Instead the songs are dominated by keyboards, and while none are particularly bad, none of the tracks show the sheer joy of "Mystery" from SYB. Instead, this is a fairly restrained and dull affair. After listening to this album more than five times, I can't recall more than half of the tracks. That's never been a problem with the other two YYY albums. The hooks just aren't here.

Opener "Zero" shows promise. It's no coincidence that it's the only song from this album that they played on Saturday Night Live last week. It has a catchy synth hook, and is a genuinely strong pop song. But right after that, things go downhill. "Heads will Roll" tries to keep the party going, but it just doesn't work. "Soft Shock" is even worse and begins to approach irritating territory. By the time I'm listening to "Runaway" I've been so bored that it's hard to notice that this is a pretty song. Closer "Little Shadow" would be a nice bring down if the rest of the album had some life in it. Instead, it just feels like the final disappointment.

Black Lips: 200MillionThousand

2009-04-07T19:07:00.003-04:00

It seems like their last album Good Bad Not Evil just came out. But of course that's not true. I just bought it recently, that's all. But it does seem like the tour to promote it never ended, and that may be true. Whatever the reason, 200MillionThousand seems almost unnecessary. Not that it is. It's actually better than their last album in places, and definitely doesn't sound like a retread. But if you had asked me who I wanted a new album from in 2009, The Black Lips wouldn't be on my list.

I probably wouldn't even be mentioning all of this, but this album is too fucking long by at least 10 minutes. Their last two albums were under 40 minutes, so why the hell is this one 50? Sure, 3 of it is silence for the hidden track (and why the fuck is any band including hidden tracks in 2009? Do they pull this crap on every album?), but that just adds to the frustration. It's also not hard to find the tracks that are worth cutting. "I'll Be With You" just sounds unnecessary when the band already has "Dirty Hands", and about half the songs on the 2nd half are pretty forgettable. At least I've forgotten them while writing this review.

All that aside, the album has its strong moments, and shows a lot of promise. Opener "Take My Heart" is a nice dirty rocker, and "Starting Over" is a pretty little song. "Big Black Baby Jesus of Today" is one of their harder rocking songs. Really, the album's best moment is it's official final track "I Saw God". The song opens with inaudible narration that actually gets bleeped out towards the end. This jarring gimmick might frustrate and irritate a lot of listeners, but I think it works. Otherwise, you wouldn't notice that he's cussing, and it adds a certain element of sonic terrorism that makes the song more dangerous. When the final build kicks in, you're definitely paying attention, and that makes it all the more powerful.

But it's the actual final track that highlights my problem with this album. Where "I Saw God" was a thoughtful restrained song, "Meltdown" sounds like something that was crapped out in one jam session with little to no thought put into the lyrics...which is fine. But I would expect a song like that to rock a little harder. In fact, I wish just about every song on here rocked a little bit harder. The Black Lips definitely have no shortage of catchy hooks. What they seem to lack is the ability to translate those hooks into energy in the studio. Live, they definitely know how to make their songs roar. Which is maybe where these songs should have stayed.

March 27-29: Akron/Family

2009-04-01T20:39:00.004-04:00

And I'm back. I guess. I really don't have the discipline to keep a blog. Or interesting enough thoughts. But I went to another concert, so here I am.

Being the super fan that I am, I went to all three Akron/Family shows last weekend. The first was at The New Museum in Manhattan, and the 2nd two were at Union Pool in Brooklyn. Openers were Lexie Mountain Boys (who actually had to play after Akron/Family Friday due to traffic troubles), Golden Sparkle Band and Larkin Grimm.

I guess I'll cover the openers first:

Lexie Mountain Boys: I think I would have liked them less if they were the opener. They only played for about 10 minutes after Akron/Family had finished, and that's probably as much as I can take. LMB are an all female group that sings and doesn't play any instruments. They have interesting outfits. Their "songs" are really just a lot of chanting and yelling. It's somewhat entertaining, but to be honest, it looks like some Williamsburg hipster performance art piece more than an actual band that tours, which is what they are. I saw them back up Akron/Family in 2006 at what I considered to be one of the best shows I've ever seen. There, their chanting really helped add something to the music. By itself, I think I would start getting annoyed if it went on much longer than 10 minutes.

Golden Sparkle Band: Jazz group. Piano, guitar, sax/clarinet, trumpet/bass clarinet, drums and standup bass. I really don't know what to say about these guys. I don't listen to much jazz, so it's hard for me to evaluate them fairly. I wouldn't say that I enjoyed them especially, but I wasn't bored or annoyed either. When I do listen to jazz, I tend to prefer the late-career John Coltrane stuff that manages to dance on the border between total chaos and controlled improvization. I wouldn't say these guys managed that. The pieces seemed to have a pretty clear written melody that they would then take detours from. They even had written music with them. When they joined together to play a clear tune, I found myself more involved than I was for the rest of the set.

Larkin Grimm: She continues to impress me. The first two songs which just featured her playing dulcimer and singing were a bit difficult to get into, but once her "band" (a woman on violin and a guy on some Asian instrument I still don't know the name of) joined her, things picked up greatly, and she never lost me. She managed to get the entire audience singing along for the entirety "Ride that Cyclone", and it worked a lot better than I thought it would. The bulk of her set was from her latest album, Parplar, with the exception of the first two songs and another song called "Butcher". Vocal theatrics were even more present than they were the first time I saw her, but instead of being annoying, I found it quite captivating. If you told me that my favorite new musical discovery of 2009 would be a hippie female singer/songwriter with a penchant for high pitched yells, I woudln't believe you. But here we are.

And here's my attempt at a setlist for Larkin Grimm:

Unknown song
Another song I don't know
They Were Wrong
Ride that Cyclone
Parplar
Butcher
Durge
My Justine
Anger in your Liver
Hope for the Hopeless
Mina Minou

And finally. My review of the 3 Akron/Family sets. Here are my rough setlists:

Friday:

Quiet song off the first album that I've never seen them play. I think it might be the hidden track.
River
Unknown new song--Seth sings. Something about objects appearing closer than they are.
Lake Song (with a seperate jam at the end)
Ed is a Portal
Everyone is Guilty
Sun will Shine
Last year

Saturday:

Meek Warrior
River
Lake Song
Raise the Sparks
Ed is a Portal
Everyone is Guilty
Sun will Shine
Last Year
Phenomenon

Sunday:

Meek Warrior
River
unkown song from Friday
Gravelly Mountains of the Moon
Ed is a Portal
Drum machine song that Dana sings
That jam where Miles screams a lot
Everyone is Guilty
Sun will Shine
Last Year
Then they went outside, kept singing Last Year, and then I know you Rider and then Crickets...this went on way too long.

As you can see there was some difference between sets, but not really enough for my tastes. I hadn't heard Sun Will Shine before, and since it was really good, I liked hearing it all three nights. But there were a lot of songs they could have swapped out that I would have liked to have heard. I was surprised to not hear "They Will Appear" which they also didn't play new years, but played at both shows I was at last year (except for NYE of course).

But overall, all three nights were strong sets. New Years Eve, I was very disappointed to see them as a three piece (with backing horns and woodwinds) for most of their set. To me, Akron/Family is a band that needs two guitarists, and ideally 2 drummers and some other people to mix it up. Their brass/woodwind section helps fill out their sound wonderfully, but they tend to stay in the background. The exception was Saturday night when the tenor saxophonist and the alto saxphonist from Golden Sparkle Band joined them for a couple of noisy solos in Lake Song. But I think Seth has really gotten good at looping his guitar at the right times, and using his small keyboard to really fill out the sound.

I still think they were a stronger band when they played with Megafaun, but this was a vast improvement over New Years Eve where I felt their sound was just a bit too empty. I'm once again optimistic about the future of Akron/Family.

So the sets were all great. But I have a complaint with how they ended every one. The segue from "Sun Will Shine" to "Auld Lang Syne" and into "Last Year" was neat. Would have been neater on New Years though. On New Years Eve, I thought "Last Year" was something they had just thrown together before the show for the holiday. Apparently it's on their album and it's their new closer and sing along. That's really a shame because it's just not very good. It's just one line, "Last year was a hard year for such a long time. This year's gonna be ours," and they repeat it over and over. While the silly rap at the end of "Ed is a Portal" and the sing along "Love and Space" managed to get the audience in a joyous mood, this one is just a downer. And I honestly just get annoyed being asked to sing it for 5 goddamn minutes. It doesn't have the spiritual component that made those other closers so successful. Sunday night was the worst where they took it outside where no one could hear them and then added 2 more dull acoustic singalongs.

So yeah. I hope they drop that shit or find a better closer that's actually fun to sing along to. Their sets deserve better.

Friday January 9, 2009 at the Bowery Ballroom: Camper Van Beethoven!

2009-01-10T18:58:00.008-05:00

I always experience a bit of worry when going to see a musician or a band that is several decades past their best work. Camper Van Beethoven released an album in 2004, but it kind of felt like a weirder Cracker album, and doesn't hold up to Camper Van Beethoven's best work. But I'd never seen CVB or Cracker (yes, I actually like Cracker), so I decided I would have to give them a chance.

Fortunately, all of my fears were totally groundless. Camper Van Beethoven played a pretty comprehensive set that included favorites from all of their albums. Sure, there were a lot of songs I would have loved to hear that they didn't play (Abundance, Surprise Truck, Sometimes, Jack Ruby, She Divines Water, etc.), but this is almost always the case with bands like CVB that have dozens of great songs. There was very little talking between songs. David Lowery told one not-very-interesting story to introduce one song, and other members of the band mentioned other concerts they were playing. But that was it.

While the band was not especially energetic, the audience was clearly having a blast. I am always reminded of the age of these groups when I arrive and notice that I'm one of the younger members of the audience. Pretty much everyone there looked like a middle aged former hippie. There was some great air guitar, bass and drums played. As much fun as I was having, I just couldn't match the excitement of those around me, and I didn't try.

For me the highlight of the set was "Interstellar Overdrive" which closed out their set. Much less noisy than the original Pink Floyd and CVB versions, it still had some pretty solid guitar playing in the middle. I was also really excited to hear "Circles" played live, but it just wasn't as good without the backwards vocals. There really wasn't a weak moment in the set.

Anyway, NYC taper has a complete set list as well as a recording, so just go over there if you need that stuff. The setlist I picked up as well as NYC Taper has "White Riot" listed, but I definitely didn't hear that played. Maybe it was some unrecognizable version...

Wednesday December 31, 2008: Last show at the Knitting Factory-- Akron/Family, Deerhunger and Dirty Projectors

2009-01-04T19:56:00.008-05:00

Dirty Projectors

Deerhoof

Akron/Family

Well those are the only bands that we got to see. There were at least 7 other bands, but we didn't see anything that wasn't on the main stage, and we missed Megafaun because they played at 8:30 and The Knitting Factory didn't open the doors in time for people to get into see them. I'll never understand why clubs do that.

So first up were The Dirty Projectors. I think I may have seen them open for Jarvis Cocker. At least one song sounded familiar. But this was much worse than I remembered hearing at that show. Basically the first two thirds of their set was awful and nearly unbearable. The Dirty Projectors basically seem to be at war with melody and rythm. And that's fine. There are lots of bands that play songs without any followable tune that I love...well maybe just a few. But the way these guys (well 2 guys and 2 girls) did it just grated on me. And the weird vocals would be fine if they merged with the music better, but instead they were way up the mix and super grating. Especially one song that was basically only sung by the lead male singer. But at the end things picked up. The last two or three songs were actually quite good. One was a briskly paced number that showed off some pretty strong guitar playing. And another featured a very noisy freakout at the end. I started their set bored and annoyed, but by the end, I was fine with it.

Then Deerhoof. I like Deerhoof alright. This was the third time I've seen them. The first time, the band got lost on the way to the venue, showed up about an hour late after people had been given refunds and sent home and played a 20 minute set that was actually quite impressive. Since then they've grown up a lot as a band and gained a much larger fan base. And a rowdier one too it seemed last night. For a variety of reasons, I was not in the mood for a lot of pushing, shoving and crowd surfing. So that really put a damper on things for me. And to be honest, I ended up more focused on that than much else. I liked Deerhoof alright. But I've never found much of their music very memorable. I find it hard to come up with anything to dislike about them, but the goodwill I have towards the band doesn't really extend much to their music.

And then the main attraction. To be honest, I felt kind of ripped off. This was my first time to see Akron/Family perform as a three piece, and it was kind of a drag. They were joined by a woodwind section for most of the set, and members of Megafaun came out periodically to add guitar/bass or extra percussion, but they were not featured as members of the band as they had been in the past. Raise the Sparks suffered when Seth's guitarstrap came undone, and there wasn't another guitarist to help pick up the slack. And the sound just wasn't as full as I've been used to at Akron/family shows.

But if the band had been as together as I'm used to, I would have been less disappointed. But their set was about a half hour shorter than the last 3 shows of theirs that I've seen. And to be honest, it was the first Akron/Family show I've seen in years that did not offer me something new and exciting from the band. From any other group, this set would have thrilled me. But coming from these guys (who last fall put on possibly the single best show I have ever seen), it just felt like a giant letdown.

Here's the rough setlist:

Auld Lang Syne
Lake Song
Turn on Your Love Light
New Song
New Song
Crickets
New Song
Raise the Sparks
Ed is a Portal

The new ones aren't that new by now, but I still don't know the titles.

Alles Weideroffen by Einsturzende Neubauten

2008-12-21T13:45:00.003-05:00

Well this one wasn't heavily promoted. I didn't realize it existed until I saw it in a CD store. Compared to 2004's magnificent Perpetuum Mobile, this feels like a minor work to me. I'm sure that there are a lot of fans of Einsturzende Neubauten that feel differently. This album funded entirely by the Einsturzende Neubauten fan club, and more importantly the entire recording process was available for fans of the band to witness and comment on. I've read in a couple of reviews about how the band would revisit previously discarded musical paths and discard others based on comments from their fans. I've never heard of a band allowing their fans to contribute so much to the creative process, so I certainly admire it. Unfortunately, the result is an album that just does not come accross as strongly as Einsturzende Neubauten's previous works. While there are no bad songs, there is little on this album to give it the strength of other efforts from this group.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of impressive tracks on here. Opening song "Die Wellen" starts with quiet piano and percussion and then slowly increases in volume until the end. There's no explosion of sound or cathariss. Just one crescendo for a little over three and a half minutes. It works. Not particularly well, but it works. "Weil Weil Weil" and "Lets do it Dada" show off their ability to deliver catchy almost dancable grooves. Both of these songs would be candidates for singles if this band did singles. Einsturzende Neubauten has never been a dance band, and that seems kind of tragic to me with all their rythmic capabilities. When they turn down the volume, the results are a bit more hit and miss. "Nagorny Karabach" is about as unmemorable a track as they have ever written. But "Ichhatteein Wort" is about as pretty as songs come these days.

My biggest moment of disappointment comes at the end of this album. "Ich Warte" was featured on a recent live album the band released, and live, the song is extremely powerful. It starts with a quiet melody and then when the percussion joins in and Blixa Bargeld sings with the full power of voice, the song really carries a lot of energy. But on this album, the song feels almost lifeless. The climax just doesn't have any punch to it. And the song hasn't been substantially altered. I can't figure out what's wrong. Was Blixa feeling sick that day they decided to record? Could they just not figure out how it should sound? I just don't get it.

I can't help but wonder what "Von Wegen" would have been if Einsturzende Neubauten's fans had been left out of the creative process. The song starts quietly enough before building to an orchestral climax. But there's this part in the middle where Blixa sings "Von Wegen" over and over that doesn't fit in at all with the rest of the song. It sounds like something the band decided didn't fit, but fans decided sounded cool and as a result got left in. It does sound cool, but it also just doesn't belong. Then again, I could be completely wrong.

I bought this album when it came out in January. I really haven't listened to it much since then. Listening to it again for this review, that seems like kind of a shame. There's lots of good music on here. But I guess something about it leaves me cold. I admire Einsturzende Neubauten for their tireless experimentation and committment to expanding their creative process. Unfortunately, I just can't get too worked up about the results.

Well shit. According to Allmusic.com, this album came out last October. Well I've come too far not to post this.

The Airing of Greivances by Titus Andronicus is the best album of the year

2008-12-20T18:21:00.000-05:00

I started this one a while ago, but for whatever reason I couldn't finish it. I've bought my last new CD of the year (The Orchard by Fire on Fire), and I can say with supreme confidence that no album this year has excited me more than this one. I fell in love with this band within the first ten minutes of hearing them live for the first time. Live, they can be a chaotic sloppy experience, but on this album, they actually manage to reign things in just enough to deliver one of the most effective and compelling rock albums I've heard in a while.

Opening song "Fear and Loathing in Mahwah NJ" basically seals the deal by itself. Opening with Patrick Sickles alone on guitar and vocals sounding as if he has a long hallway between himself and the microphone, the song kicks into gear with a rousing cry of "Fuck you!" and blasts off with about a minute and a half of furious rock music with the second half of the lyrics sung with the full band behind him. Then the music falls back to allow a guitar riff to rive above the wreckage. Eventually the rest of the band joins in again to the end, and they sprint to the end of the song. The only thing I don't like about this track is the barely intelligible spoken word bit at the end, but every other moment is flawless.

And the album is full of similarly great songs. "Joset of Nazareth Blues" sounds like it should be a Mekons song (highest compliment I can give a rock song), Parts 1 and 2 of "No Future" are both spectacular as well. Part 1 is especially interesting, because it's probably the slowest and quietest song on the album. Sure it features plenty of loud guitars like the rest of the tracks, but as fun as that is, the quieter beginning is done so well that I never get impatient for the song to kick into high gear.

Songs like "Arms Against Atrophy" suffer only by comparison to the numerous great rock songs on this album. And that's really the one drag of listening to The Airing of Grievances, the songs I love stand out so strongly from the rest, that 3 of the 9 songs almost feel like filler. But all in all, this is the most exhilarating and exciting rock album I've heard in a long time. Exhilarating because...well duh, I just told you. Exciting because ....well there is also the obvious for this one. But there's also the fact that this album shows so much promise. Titus Andronicus could become any sort of rock band they wanted judging from this album. They could be the rowdy sloppy rock band that I first thought they were. They could be a loud guitar-rock band. Shoe-gaze, punk, country or whatever else they wanted. This album shows promise in so many ways.

But so much of this album is about being young, angry and disillusioned that I wonder if these guys can keep it up as they grow up. If the next 4 Titus Andronicus albums are like this, it'll get really old really fast. But there are 6 of them. Maybe someone else will pitch in on song writing duties. Or maybe Patrick Sickles will continue to amaze us. Whatever it is, I'll want to stick around at least for the sequel.

Tuesday December 17, 2008, Brooklyn Masonic Temple: Walkmen and The Dodos

2008-12-17T18:54:00.002-05:00

And it's another pictureless review. Pictures should be back in time for my review of the Akron/Family New Years Eve Spectacular. So for this one, you'll have to find pictures somewhere else.

First, the venue: The show was held at The Brooklyn Masonic Temple which seems like somewhat of an unlikely place for a show. Once inside, it doesn't seem like that much of a stretch. Sure, it's not a regular concert venue, but it looks like it's used as a community/recreation center, so concerts for the Brooklyn hipster community make sense. It's also conveniently located 4 blocks from my apartment. Unfortunately, this didn't mean that I was home shortly after the concert was over. I made the mistake of checking my coat, and despite leaving during the last song to beat the crowds, I was stuck in line for nearly an hour waiting for my coat. So that sucked.

I also missed the first song of The Dodos' set because it took longer than expected to check my coat. Point is, don't check your coat there. But at least I only missed one song of The Dodos set, and I was lucky that it wasn't one of my favorites ("Red and Purple"). The Dodos put on a strong high energy show. The band is a three piece of guitar/vocals, drums/vocals and added percussion/viberaphone (I think). So just by virtue of their interesting instrumentation, The Dodos have an interesting sound.

I already reviewed their album earlier this week, and while I liked it, I wasn't able to form a very strong opinion of it. Fortunately, I had no such difficulty with their live show. Despite being seated, the lead singer/guitar player plays with a lot of energy, and the emphasis on percussion gives the songs lots of kick. His guitar playing is strong enough that it doesn't need accompaniment by another guitar to fill in the empty spaces. There were a couple of non-album songs that were good but didn't live up to the strongest moments on the album. But then again, this was the first time I heard these songs, so it's hard to judge. The set was just about perfect for me. Other than "Paint the Rust", they played all of my favorite songs on the album, and they closed with the track I was most dying to hear ("The Season"). So that was a lot of fun. Approximate set list that is probably about 70% wrong:

Red and Purple
Eyelids
Fools
Joe's Waltz
Unknown song
Unknown song
Jodi
The Season

And up next were The Walkmen. After seeing them last February, I'd pretty much given up on seeing these guys live. I skipped a series of shows they had earlier in the fall, and I probably would have skipped last night's show if not for The Dodos. The Walkmen do not play $20 worth of music live. For a band with 4 albums of original material, there is no reason for them to play just 15 songs. But that's about all you get from these guys. I could maybe understand/excuse if the songs were longer or more exhausting to perform, but for the most part, the band looks pretty relaxed on stage. Which would be fine IF THEY PLAYED LONGER. When I first saw them, I thought they put on an intense show. Those days seem to be over.

I don't really know what else to say. Song by song, they do fine, but I don't really get why they play live. They don't seem to enjoy it that much. I was especially disappointed last night that they left off two easy croud pleasers ("Little House of Savages" and "Thinking of a Dream I Had"), and I generally try not to let my enjoyment of a show be determined by the band's set list. Because, what would you rather hear? Your favorite songs performed poorly as a chore or songs that the band can get truly fired up playing? Some of my favorite shows of all time have even been dominated by songs I'd never heard before. But with The Walkmen, I can't find anything about their shows to make them more than the sum of the songs they play. So on a night like last night when they don't play my favorites, I go home feeling cheated.

Songs they played mostly not in order:

Donde esta la Playa
In the New Year
Louisiana
Red Moon
Four Provinces
New Country
All Hands on the Cook
On the Water
The Rat
They're Winning
Seven Years of Holidays
Red Moon
Canadian Girl
Long Time Ahead of Us
White Christmas
Another One Goes By

Black Mountain: In the Future plus bonus disc/EP

2008-12-14T17:28:00.002-05:00

Operation review all albums I bought in 2008 is moving full steam ahead. This one came out in January. Since it's now December, this review seems a bit late. But something should be said about this band and this band.

Specifically: Fuck Black Mountain. Or fuck Stephan McBean. Or fuck their fans. I don't know. I'm being overly harsh, but something about this album kind of pissed me off.

I'm not entirely sure why I hate this album. Black Mountain's debut album was one of my most beloved albums at the time of its release. And I had really enjoyed the first Pink Mountaintops album (another band from lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Stephen McBean). A part of my backlash is the idiocy of having 2 bands for one songwriter. The Pink Mountaintops appear to be just McBean and whoever he can bring along for the ride while Black Mountain seems to have a set lineup with distinct roles for each band member. BUT IT'S STILL THE SAME GODDAMN SONGWRITER FOR BOTH BANDS. HIS SONGS ARE NOT THAT DIFFERENT. Sorry...got a little excited there.

But it's not just the multiple band names that have soured me on Black Mountain. Although I think that does play a major roles in revealing the weaknesses of both projects. While the Pink Mountaintops are unfocused and unpolished, they are also energetic and less predictable than Black Mountain which may benefit from tighter musicianship but can be completely lifeless.

And lifeless is the word that I'd use to describe too much of the music on this album. It opens with enough promise. "Stormy High" is a solid rocker even if repeating the title of the song over and over seems like a pretty weak refrain. And "Angels" is a nice mellow classic rock tune. But then things start to go wrong, and they just get worse as the album progresses. "Tyrants" attempts to be some sort of 70s prog-rock epic, but the final jam feels totally forced and empty. Singer Amber Webber does her best to howl some life into the tune, but it just never comes.

Things seemed to pick up with "Wucan", but that song is still a just a less interesting "Druganaut" which wasn't even my favorite track to begin with. And with "Queens Will Pay", the album delivers another totally lifeless (that's the theme for this review) attempt at a rock epic. The song sounds alright for most of it's duration. The problem is that at the end when they're supposed to be rocking out, it really doesn't feel like it's picked up very much. The climax is a giant let down.

But if you take 9 of the album's 10 songs, I'd still say maybe 4 out of the 9 are keepers. And the track I'm leaving out is 16 minutes long. So it were a keeper, then Black Mountain would be doing pretty well in my book. Well it's not. In fact, the song in question, "Bright Lights" is probably one of the low moments of the album. Which is sad since each of it's sections could have held some promise, but taken as a whole, the song is just a prog-rock mess. It opens with acoustic guitar and moaning vocals from McBean and Webber. I like nonsense lyrics just fine, but they don't work so well when the vocals are put right at the front of the mix. After a few minutes of this nonsense, the rest of the band joins in with a briskly paced stoner groove. This all sounds pleasant enough, but it doesn't really go anywhere until the song fades to pleasant white noise around the 8 minute mark. That gives way to a slow sludgy bass groove that eventually gets joined by electric guitar. Eventuaally, the song reaches its inevitable climax and it's all over.

When I saw Black Mountain late last year before this album was released, they closed with this song. McBean said they had one last "short" song. I guess he thought he was being cute. The whole time I was listening, I kept wondering when it would end. I wish it had been a short song. None of the individual sections are bad, but they never work together coherently, and the middle part just feels like a waste. The other time I saw this group live, McBean was wearing a Grateful Dead T-shirt. After listening to this album, that feels like some kind of joke. His musical influences don't like with the Grateful Dead or any other band famous for jamming. Despite it's long length, there's really no jamming on "Bright Lights" or any of his other tracks. Maybe some noodling, but none of his songs are written to provide room for improvisation and unpredictability.

Black Mountain is a prog-rock band. Maybe that isn't a bad thing, but I've never had a taste for the stuff, and I don't see much fun in reviving the music of the poorest regarded rock music of the 70s. I'm done with these guys.

Saturday December 13 at the Knitting Factory: Oneida Fest 08 with Pterodactyl, Oakley Hall, Parts and Labor and Oneida

2008-12-14T16:06:00.003-05:00

There were a lot of other bands, but those are the only ones I saw. Actually saw a little bit of Knyfe Hyts, but I wasn't into it, so we didn't stick around for more than 5 minutes. I didn't go to this show with my girlfriend, so there are no pictures. I'm pretty incompetent with a camera, so if she's not there to take pictures, it doesn't happen. And really at this point, I think I have plenty of pictures of Oneida. Maybe it would have been nice to have a few of Oakley Hall's new lineup, but whatever.

Apparently I was alone in this sentiment, but I was really really irritated that The Knitting Factory didn't have a coat check last night. It was below freezing outside, and everybody there brought a coat. It's kind of hard to dance around and have fun when you have to carry a heavy coat around with you. At least it is for me. Really don't get it. They could have made an easy 200+ dollars if the coat check room had been open. Assholes.

Anyway, I got in right as Pterdactyl started. Walking in, I was amazed at how much the song sounded just like the album. Especially since I'd seen them twice before buying their album and didn't recognize any songs from their live set. Also, they were playing on one of the smaller stages, so you would have expected shittier sound. But it was pretty good. Unfortunately, the stage was pretty small, so I had to get pretty close in order to see. The set included some songs that weren't on the album, but there was plenty for me to recognize this time. They closed with "Esses" and "Polio", the two strongest songs on their album. That's as close as you're going to get to a set list.

Next were Parts and Labor on the main stage. The band was a four piece with a guy playing keyboard/other electronics and singing in the middle, another guy singing and playing bass on one side and a female guitarist who didn't sing on the other end. And of course a drummer...who was actually really good. And holy shit. I just realized I know that girl in the band. Sort of. She's from Austin. Well that's interesting. To me. But I should hurry up and say what I thought of them.

...Which is that I'm not sure. The songs weren't band, but they weren't that great either. There were several interesting moments in the show, but I kind of had a problem with the singers voices. I just didn't like them. Which feels like a shitty reason not to enjoy a band since it's not really their fault. Yeah, not sure if I have anything else to say about that. It was pretty good indie rock that was enjoyable enough, but nothing I feel like I need to hear again. But I could see myself changing my mind about that group...either way.

Next we saw Knyfe Hyts. Well we didn't really see them since we were so far back and the stage was practically nonexistent on the bottom stage. And all we heard was noise. So we left.

Up next was Oakley Hall on the same stage. This time I was smart enough to make sure I had a spot close to the front where I could see. Last time I saw them, all of the members of the band I've known were present for the entire set, except for their drummer who was replaced by STEVE GOULDRING FROM THE MEKONS (sorry, I'm still impressed). This time they had their new regular drummer back with the band. Fred Wallace was also present, but Claudia Mogel wasn't. Instead, they had the woman from Company playing violin and singing, one of the other members of Company playing guitar and two other musicians playing a harmonium and electric piano.

The set focused a lot on newer and quieter material. And while it was nice to see that they're actually playing songs from their new album, mellow mid-tempo country rock wasn't what I was in the mood for. Also, with all of the musicians on stage, there was way too much down time between songs. I left before the last one or two songs because I wanted to get a spot towards the front for Oneida. The set list I remember:

Marine Life
Volume Rambler
Color the Shade
Burry Your Burden
song I don't know
Free Radicals Lament

And then finally. The main attraction. The mighty Oneida. They opened with a cover of Throbbing Gristle's "Discipline" with a guest singer. Bobby played bass, and the whole band was loud. It was pretty cool for about five minutes. It went on for ten. From then on, it was mostly a mix of covers and originals, with the originals sounding better than the covers. The covers were still pretty cool. They played "Hit it and Quit it" by Funkadelic and "She Cracked" by the Modern Lovers. Papa Crazy (also known as Pat Sullivan from Oakley Hall) joined them for "She's Cracked", and it was pretty awesome.

That was all over in about forty minutes. Then came their final jam. It was just tribal drumming and noise. For twenty goddamn minutes. I tend to enjoy Oneida's longer songs on albums, but when they jam live, sometimes the songs can get away from them. I can't really say with this one since it was the first time I'd heard it, but it really never worked for me. And there was no encore or anything after that. Kind of left me disappointed. The set list as I remember it:

Discipline
The River
Hit it and Quit it
Ghost in the Room
She Cracked
I will Haunt You
Final Jam

Acid Mothers Temple and the Melting Paradiso UFO: Glorify Astrological Martyrdom

2008-12-11T17:54:00.003-05:00

This year AMT and the Melting Paradiso UFO has really let me down. The live shows were lackluster compared to the shows last year, and both albums I've bought from this version of the band have been nearly unlistenable. I'll try to get to the other one, but for now, I want to talk about this one.

But before I rip into it, I just want to say what an awesome album cover and title. It's probably one of their best ones ever. I just couldn't resist even though I know perfectly well that about half of their albums are really not worth listening to.

And the music? The album has just three tracks and all three are pretty awful. The opener "Phantom Utopia Or Suicidal Star Warriors" is probably the worst of the three. It barely has any melody or energy. Instead, Kawabata cranks up his guitar as loud as he can and just blasts it for 20 goddamn minutes. The second track, "Cosmic Soul Death Disco" is slightly better in that it actually has a recognizable groove that the track centers around. Unfortunately, the tune just isn't that good, and the guitar playing is as uninspired as it was on the last track. The album mercifully closes with a shorter song "Stargate of the Hell" that is my favorite simply because it's 15 minutes shorter than the next shortest song on the album.

This is the second total turd I've heard from this version of Acid Mothers Temple. And this one is actually just a shittier version than it's predecessor. There have been at least two other albums released by them this year, so maybe there are stronger moments on those. But as far as I can see, Kawabata is doing his best to prove that The Melting Paradiso UFO is out of ideas. This is a shame since he's made so much great music with these guys. Since he's the only member of the MPUFO that isn't in the Cosmic Inferno, the first instinct would be to blame Tsyuama Atushi. But I don't think that's the problem. All Acid Mothers Temple projects are basically Kawabata's band. Rather, I think the problem here is a lack of collaboration. AMT&TMPUFO's string of great 2007 albums came after bringing a new female singer to the group and including saxophonist/flutist Ono Ryoko in their sessions. This album just has the core 4 members of the group. Without his female muses to inspire him, Kawabata Makoto seems completely adrift.

The Dodos: Visiter

2008-12-10T21:28:00.003-05:00

Well a lot of people seemed to like this one. It'll probably appear on Pitchforkmedia's best albums of the year list, and maybe a couple others. I guess I get it. These guys manage to deliver a lot of strong and distinct tunes with just one guitar and drums. There are a some guest musicians, but for the most part it's just guitar and drums on this album. But then again, I also get why a friend of mine said he didn't "get it". Visiter could either be a sign of great things to come from these guys, or an interesting and enjoyable first album that will fade as time goes by.

....

So that paragraph was written yesterday, and then I tried to write a 2nd one and couldn't really come up with anything. And this is after deleting an already begun review of this album. I don't know why, but I'm having a hard time thinking of what to say about this album. I like it. I have listened to it a fair amount, and I always enjoy it. The first song "Walking" is a nice little introduction to "Red and Purple" which I like alright, but doesn't quite live up to the promise of it's opening. But then things start to get interesting. "Fools" is an enjoyable frantic song. And "Joe's Waltz" pretty much shows off all of The Dodos' strengths. It opens with a pretty nice haunting melody before taking off, being constantly driven by a bluesy riff and a refrain of "You need help!"

And that's not even halfway through the album. Some of the songs are kind of forgettable. I don't really remember what "Winter" or "God" sounds like. And I remember "It's That Time Again" only because it's pretty short and easy to remember (half of the words are in the title). But there are enough good songs on here that I have trouble picking any solid favorite. "Jodi", "Paint the Rust" and "The Season" are all candidates along with "Joe's Waltz".

But I'm still not sure how I feel about the album as a whole. It's a bit too long given the lack of anything to tie the tracks together. It's about an hour long, and it goes by pretty quickly, but it feels like a bit much for a debut album. But I guess they've probably been playing and writing songs for a while now and decided to put as many out there as they were able to. This is just my speculation...

I'm seeing The Dodos this Tuesday, so I'll probably have a better idea then if the success of this album is a fluke or a sign of great things to come. Still not sure, but after this album, I'm definitely open for more.

Retribution Gospel Choir: S/T

2008-12-09T20:40:00.004-05:00

There's a part of me that kind of wants to hate the Retribution Gospel Choir. It's a much less substantial Alan Sparhawk live project compared to The Black Eyed Snakes. In fact, the band is basically Low without Mimi and with a different drummer. And two of the best songs on this album are also Low songs. And I really miss The Black Eyed Snakes, and it doesn't look like they're coming back anytime soon. It also doesn't help that this album just doesn't sound as good as the two Black Eyed Snakes albums or any Low albums.

But that's about as far as my complaints with this album go. Clocking in close to 30 minutes, there is not enough time to find much to complain about here. With the Retribution Gospel Choir, Alan Sparhawk has created his most straightforward rock project to date. As a three piece consisting of guitar, bass and drums, The Retribution Gospel Choir deliver 2-4 minute powerful rock songs. Two of the album's strongest moments are re-worked Low songs. Both "Breaker" and "Take Your Time" fit the rock format better than the more challenging approach of Low's last album Drums and Guns.

But not all of the album's strong moments are re-worked Low songs. "Destroyer" and "Holes in our Heads" are also similarly dark and powerful rock songs. "Holes in our Heads" features some really nice guitar playing at the end, further reminding me why Alan Sparhawk is one of my favorite guitarists of all time.

For the most part, this album sticks to gloomy territory. Most of the songs are about as bleak as the material on the last Low album, but with programmed beats, guitar loops and pianos being replaced by a straight-forward rock set up, the anger and despair of "Breaker" comes through even more strongly here. But it's not all gloom and doom on this album; "Hatchet" (also appropriated from Low) and "Easy Prey" are pleasant upbeat rock songs that don't really do anything new or interesting, but still manage to entertain.

With 30% of the material recycled from the last Low album and only one band member who doesn't play with Low, Retribution Gospel Choir feels more like an Alan Sparhawk solo project than an actual new band. Some of these songs would not work with Low, and I'm glad he cared about them enough to record them and tour with them. And given how well both of his recent side projects have worked, I've started wondering if Low is holding Sparhawk back. I wonder if he'd make better music if he didn't confine himself to the name and the band which doesn't allow him the range that he seems so clearly capable of. But so far he hasn't released a disappointing album, so why should I complain?

Primal Scream: Beautiful Future

2008-12-09T18:15:00.000-05:00

I'm back, and this time I won't be leaving. I'm going to try to review all the albums that came out before I started this blog. And at least one more that's coming out before the end of the year. It's a review a day, so we'll see if it actually happens. First up is the new Primal Scream album.

I didn't know anything about this album until I saw a review on Pitchforkmedia. I guess everyone has written them off after their last turd, Riot City Blues. Which is a shame, because while that album generally sucked, it had some fun moments, and Primal Scream have recorded plenty of exciting music to earn the right to release one bad album without being written off.

Unfortunately, I'm afraid that Beatiful Future may be shitty album #2 for these guys. I honestly haven't made up my mind, but a lot of the problems that were present on Riot City Blues are present here. This was somewhat unexpected for me since Beautiful Future is sonically much closer to Vanishing Point and Evil Heat than the retro-rock of Riot City Blues. features a return to the electronic music that has given us many of Primal Scream's best moments. But the problems on Riot City Blues went much deeper than their return to retro-rock. Specifically, Primal Scream sound like a band that are running out of ideas. They've reinvented their sound so many times that there really is no way of knowing what the "real" Primal Scream sounds like. Like Riot City Blues, Beautiful Future is a forced shift in style that never sounds genuine and is only intermittently entertaining.

My problems with this album started immediately with the opening title track. "Beautiful Future" ranks up there among the most boring songs Primal Scream has ever done. When I heard that this album featured a return to electronic music, I was hoping for another Vanishing Point, but instead, this song let me know that I was in for something else entirely. For the first time in a long time, Primal Scream sounded upbeat and happy, and I hated it. Things got worse with "Can't Go Back" which is just a straightforward rock song that just makes Primal Scream sound old. They're trying to summon more angst than they really have.

Unfortunately, one of the album's strongest moments can't even be properly credited to Primal Scream. The song "I Love to Hurt (You Love to Be Hurt)" features a collaboration with CSS's Lovefoxxx. I didn't even know who she was until I bought this album. After checking out a few clips on Youtube, I'm pretty convinced I would hate that group if I listened to them anymore. But her seductive voice adds a level of energy and interest to a song that would just feel pathetic if Bobby Gillespe was the only one singing. The song is one of the most heavily electronic pieces on the album, and I have a feeling that it's not too far from irritating the fuck out of me, but whatever ballancing act they pulled off on that song worked. The same can't be said for the rest of the album.

This isn't to say that there aren't other enjoyable moments here. The soulful chorus backing the group on "Zombie Man" manages to make that a rather fun song. "Suicide Bomb" also works as a strong mid-temp rock song. But too many of the songs on here are literally forgettable (there are at least two songs that I simply can't recall what they sound like), and too many of the rest are just not very interesting. Even when the album works, it's the sound of a band with no idea what it wants to say or how it wants to say it.

Parplar by Larkin Grimm

2008-11-12T20:28:00.003-05:00

I might as well follow up my review of her performance with one of the album I bought at the show.

Strangely enough, Larkin Grimm was actually more engaging and dynamic live with just her guitar and banjo than she is on this album. Usually, a solo performance without a backing band tends to suffer for me, but she more than made up for it by singing loudly. Album opener "They Were Wrong" was captivating live. On the album it's just haunting. So while it's not bad, it suffers by comparison to the live version. This is generally true for most of the songs that I heard live.

But that's my one complaint about this album. Otherwise, this album is near flawless. For someone who keeps things pretty quiet, Grimm shows a lot of range. She certainly has her freak-folk weirdness on display in tracks like "The Dip" (a song that is woefully too short at just a minute and six seconds) and "Parplar". But on songs like "Be My Host" and "Fall On Your Knees", she sounds very folksy. And "Ride that Cyclone" is something else entirely. I'm honestly not sure how to describe that song. I'd like to call it psychedelic, but that word is meaningless. It manages to somehow be intense and relaxing, lush and focused at the same time. It's not necessarily my favorite song on the album, but to me it defines the album because it synthesizes so much I love about her music.

Grimm is joined by a fair amount of guest musicians, but she is always at the center of the songs on this album. Even though her vocal delivery is much more restrained than it was in her live performance, her voice still manages to do wonders. She excels at both the high notes, the low notes and the weird notes. Her lyrics are full of so much joy that you can't help but overlook or even enjoy some of the most awkward lines. She even sings about unicorns!

So I wrote this whole review thinking that this was her first album (because really, there aren't that many smaller labels than Young God), but apparently she's already released 2. I don't know why, but that kind of disappoints me. Although I am curious what they sound like....anyway, I'm giving up on this review.

Friday November 6, 2008, Mercury Lounge: Holly Golightly, New York Times and Larkin Grimm

2008-11-10T19:06:00.003-05:00

So I'm back, but the quality of my reviews is substantially lower (if that was possible). Mainly cause I'm spending less time on them. But really, the last few shows haven't been remarkable enough for me to write that much. Friday night was no different with one exception.

We arrived around 9:30 while the first opener was finishing his set. He closed with a Hank Williams song and used lots of guitar loops towards the end. It was alright. I don't know his name, and I honestly don't know how to look it up at this point.

Up next was Larkinn Grimm. She's on Young God Records, and in case you don't know, that's the label that Michael Gira (Swans, Angels of Light) founded and continues to run. Through his label, he brought us Devandra Banhart, Akron/Family. I'd argue that he's more responsible for the freak folk revival than Devandra Banhart (both because he descovered Devandra Banhart and because his Angels of Light project clearly bears a lot of similarities), but not everyone would agree. Anyway, given his track record, I try to give every artist on his label a chance.

Going in, I wasn't especially excited about Larkin Grimm. I had listened to some clips of her album, and while some of the material was promising, the music just wasn't anything that I would typically seek out. Not enough "rock" I guess. Live, she was very poised and confident, something not always found in "new" artists. Her singing was also substantially louder than it is on the album which I think helped give the songs the extra push they needed. The first couple of songs were played on the banjo and while they weren't bad, they weren't especially captivating either. The show seemed to pick up around the time she played "Dominican Rum", a song that she dedicated to Paris Hilton who she called a "svengali". The lyrics are kind of awkward and humorous, and she seemed to appreciate the audience's laughter.

For the 2nd half of the set, she was joined by a friend of hers she called "Snowflake" who accompanined her on acoustic guitar and some large stringed instrument that I've only seen in Kung Fu Hustle. For the final song, "Ride That Cyclone" she also had a female friend join her for backing vocals. It was a great ending to a set that just got better as it went on.

And then The New York Times played. I won't say much about them other than that they were unbearably boring and didn't fit the bill at all. Out of the four groups that night, they were the only full rock band, and their sound didn't fit at all. It was bland middle of the road indie rock. This seems to be a pattern at these Bowery Entertainment venues: they put bands together that have no business playing together. They've done this to Akron/Family twice, and it's really gotten old.

And then there was Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs. Or Holly Golightly and Lawyer Dave since those are the only two people in the "band". I'm not the biggest fan of this new project of hers. Holly Golightly needs a band behind her. While her country/blues forays aren't necessarily bad, they aren't that good either, and they really don't translate into a fun live show. There's just not much to dance to when the drummer is playing a kick drum set while playing guitar. She opened with "Crow Jane" which was pretty promising since it's one of her livelier songs, but for the most part, there wasn't much to move to in the set. The kind of long breaks between songs didn't help either.

So we left early. I guess there's more to say about the show, but I was too tired to really absorb much of it. And so I think that's all the reviewing I'll do for now.

Saturday November 1, 2008 Secret Project Robot: Brahloween featuring Oneida, Awesome Color, Dirty Faces and Pterodactyl

2008-11-03T19:18:00.008-05:00

There were other bands playing that night, but we arrived too late for Nurse and Soldier, and were too tired to stick around for Knyfe Hytes. Our timing couldn't have been much worse since we missed the $5 admission by about 3 minutes. And then they lowered the price again after 11:40 when the place was probably way past capacity anyway. Fucking hipsters.

Anyway, we arrived in the middle of Pterodactyl song. Since I saw them last (more than a year ago), they've added another guitarist, and the bassist has started to play guitar in addition to bass. The band members showed an impressive commitment to staying in costume that probably didn't help the music much, but it was an overall fun energetic performance which I think is what you can generally expect from this group. These days they actually sound more like the Ex-Models did 5 years ago than the Ex-Models do, but they're still a more direct band. Not sure why I haven't bothered to pick up their album yet...

Up next were The Dirty Faces. Ugh. Apparently the members of Oneida really like this group. I don't get it. The lead singer's voice lacks any musical properties, and the original songs they played were completely forgettable. They opened with a version of "Addicted to Love" that substituted "drugs" for "love" that was actually pretty good. They closed with Aerosmith's "Sweet Dreams" but by then, I had gotten fed up and left to sit outside.

Up next were Awesome Color. For some reason I had them confused with some really boring experimental group I've seen a couple of times. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they were a hard rocking three piece (drums, bass and guitar) band. The first song really just had one bass line, but it was damn good bass riff, and the energetic drumming and inspired guitar playing matched it perfectly. The set sort of dragged in the middle. They covered a Misfits song, which I guess I would have enjoyed if I'd ever listened to the Misfits. For the final song, they were joined by Shahin from the Ex-Models and Oneida. It might have been better than the first one. Can't tell. Both were pretty awesome. Too bad I have no pictures...

And then the main attraction (for me at least). The previous 4 times I've seen Oneida, they've played Pre-Teen Weaponry, which is fun, but since it's taken up about 90% of their set time,I've sort of missed hearing their other songs. That night there was no Pre-Teen Weaponry. Instead it was a pretty typical Oneida set, focusing on "new" songs that haven't been released yet. But having seen them nearly once a month this year, I knew all of the songs they played. I don't have a setlist, and I'm sure I'd get the order wrong, but here's an approximation:

I will haunt you
The River
Ghost in the Room
Up with People
Snow Machine (oh yeah, that took about 20 minutes).

And then we left. I really don't have much else to report. Oneida was predictably good, but I'll probably have more fun at their December 13th show at the Knitting Factory. Stay tuned!

My one CMJ show: Oakley Hall at The Mercury Lounge on Saturday October 26, 2008

2008-10-26T21:03:00.002-04:00

So I haven't updated this thing in about two weeks. That's pretty lame. But I haven't been to any concerts in a while, and that's usually what I write about. But I have some CD reviews I've been working on. Basically I've been lazy.

But I went to a concert last night, so I should write that one up. Even though I have no pictures. But it was part of CMJ, and there were lots of photographers there, so I'm sure you can find plenty of pictures.

I think there were about 5 bands on the schedule last night, but we arrived in time to only see two of them, and to be honest, that was about 2 too many for me. I didn't catch the first two bands' names, and I'm really not interested in looking them up. Not really much to say about them. They were two very bland middle of the road indie rock groups that each had about 2 catchy songs. Somehow they both had fans. Whatever.

So how was Oakley Hall? I haven't seen them since their February show at the Knitting Factory which is too long for a band that supposedly lives in the same city as me. At the last show, violinist Claudia Mogel and guitarist Fred Wallace didn't join the band until the 2nd half of the set. I was lucky enough to get a chance to speek to Rachel Cox (vocals, guitar, piano) before the show, and apparently they aren't really in the band anymore. Which is a shame, since they're both pretty awesome. Thankfully they were in the band last night for the entire set. Also included in last night's lineup was Steve Goulding from The Mekons. I don't have much else to say on this subject other than that it was really cool. He was also a more interesting drummer than the other two I've seen play in Oakley Hall. Well no shit. He's played with Graham Parker and The Mekons and has decades of touring experience.

The set was surprising for how unsurprising it was. Here's my best recollection of the setlist:

Highway
Light of My Love
Lazy Susan
No Dreams
Rue The Blues
El Dorado
Confidence Man
Livin in Sin in the USA
Volume Rambler
New Song?

Looks mostly right. I think I might be leaving something out, but that would be one song, tops. Anyway, pretty much all of the songs were ones I've seen them play at least several times, and with maybe two exceptions, the set included all of my favorites. It definitely included all of the good songs I usually expect them to play. And there wasn't anything in the set that I disliked.

As for the performance, I was pretty pleased. The band seemed a bit more animated than I'd seen them recently, and there was a bit more musical improvisation on a few of the songs (especially "Volume Rambler" than I'd seen previously. I thought the last song could have benefited from an absence of drums, but it was nice to see Steve Goulding keeping up with the band and clearly improvising his way through a few sections successfully. It was a fun show. If only these people would play more shows, we'd probably see something truly exciting.

No Virgina by The Dresden Dolls and Who Killed Amanda Palmer? by Amanda Palmer

2008-10-04T18:27:00.004-04:00

Amanda Palmer's had a busy year. She's released 2 complete albums of new (for me at least. The Dresden Dolls album includes outtakes from Yes Virginia) material. It all seems kind of silly to me. She writes (except for the occasional cover), sings and plays piano on every Dresden Dolls song. And she writes, sings and plays piano (most of the time) on every song on her solo album. So why the hell couldn't she play those songs as The Dresden Dolls? Is this division really necessary?

I could puzzle over this some more, but I won't be able to resolve this. By all appearances, there hasn't been any falling out with the other 50% of the Dresden Dolls, Brian Viglione, so I guess she really felt like some of her songs didn't fit with her band. This is frustrating to me since the last Dresden Dolls album, Yes Virgina, suffered because the band was clearly limiting themselves. Additional musicians were far less present than they were on the debut album. As a result, No Virginia was a weak follow up for me. There's only so much you can do with just two instruments, and while The Dresden Dolls certainly do all they can with piano and drums, there are some clear sonic limitations.

Because of this, I thought the solo album might hold the most promise. And playing them side by side, Who Killed Amanda Palmer opens light years ahead of No Virginia. WKAP opens with "Astronaut", a song with a driving piano melody backed by strings. Palmer played this at the in-store performance I saw last month. It was easily the best song of the night, and it kills "Dear Jenny" easily. "Dear Jenny" opens with an inevitably jarring combination of piano, drums, vocals (and maybe even bass) that turns me off before I have a chance to warm up to the song. By the end, it redeems itself, but it never reaches the heights of "Astronaut".

And for a while last week while I was listening to both of the albums, I thought this would be the dominant theme. On the first few listens, it seemed clear that WKAP was the more diverse and challenging album. Songs like "Leeds United" and "Guitar Hero" show a strong pop sensibility that is sometimes too often lost with The Dresden Dolls. But WKAP is dominated by slower, more contemplative songs like "Amersand" and "Blake Says" that just feel like downers.

And while No Virginia gets off to a rough start, it picks up dramatically with tracks 3 and 4, "The Mouse and the Model" and "Ultima Espiranza" which both show off what The Dresden Dolls are best at. The first is one of those powerful slow burn songs that picks up steam by the end while "Ultima Esperanza" is a briskly paced number that manages to pack a more efficient punch. And while No Virginia continues to offer little surprises throughout --especially, the haunting song "The Kill" which seems to borrow lyrics from "Anarchy in the UK", WKAP decends into either bland pop music "Oasis"or tedium "What's the use of wond'rin".

So despite Palmer's interest in providing a more diverse sonic landscape on her solo album, she's saved her strongest material for The Dresden Dolls. Looks like they'll be around for a while longer. I hope they invite some friends to the party.

Tuesday September 30, The Stone: Michael Gira

2008-10-01T19:03:00.005-04:00

First the setlist. I didn't write it down, but I'm pretty sure I have all the songs here, and the order is mostly right.

Little Mouth (New)
Opium (New)
Reeling the Liars In (New)
Promise of Water
Blind
I Crawled
My Brothers Man
Destroyer
Nations
New York Girls
Sometimes I Dream I'm Hurting You
To Live Through Someone
God Damn the Sun

And now a few words about the venue. One word really sums it up: Tiny. When we got to the door and saw people sitting around, I thought maybe we were in the lounge area at first. But no. That was the performance space. It was easily the smallest one I've ever been in by far. There couldn't have been much more than 100 people there (if that), and they were crammed in. There wasn't even a stage, and because of the shortage of space, we ended up right in front of Michael Gira, sitting right at his feet. This might seem cool, but it actually wasn't. In order to see him, I had to look up, and my neck quickly became sore. As a result, I was pretty uncomfortable for the entire set. Also, the lack of air circulation made the place stifling by the end. The humidity forced Michael Gira to tune after nearly every song.

Pictures also weren't allowed. So what you see above is all we could get before they shut us down.

But one cool thing that happened was that the show basically started as soon as we sat down (not that there was no waiting. We had to wait in line outside until they were ready to let us in). As you can see by the setlist, Michael Gira opened with three new songs, one of which (I think it was "Little Mouth") he claimed to have just finished that day. "Little Mouth" and "Reeling the Liars In" were somewhat soft even by Gira's recent standards. "Opium" sounded like something that could be a strong rock song with a band behind him. Or not. It was by far my favorite of the new songs. Before playing it, he asked the audience if anyone had ever smoked opium. When no one said yes, he called us all pansies and bragged that he started smoking it at 15.

The set pulled from all of the Angels of Light albums except for the first one. And he included an acoustic version of "I Crawled" that I certainly wasn't expecting. It translated to the solo-acoustic performance better than you might expect. A lot of his Swans material does. The last time I saw him perform, he played a version of "I am the Sun" that could stand alongside both the live Swans version and the album version.

In fact, it's the Angels of Light songs that sometimes don't translate as well without a full band behind him. Both solo sets that I've seen have included a version of "Sometimes I Dream I'm Hurting You", and that song just doesn't work as well for me without that bass line that's on the album. However, "Promise of Water" actually became more agressive and forceful with Gira stomping his foot, yelling and playing his guitar as loud as it would allow while still sounding good.

The most interesting part of the night for me had nothing to do with the music. Norm Westberg, probably the most famous former Swans guitarist, was in attendance and sitting right behind me. I didn't know he was there until Gira dedicated the entire set to him. During pauses between songs, Gira would and Westberg had a few brief conversations about Swans not getting paid for shows back in the day. I usually don't say this, but I wish we had gotten more story time last night. From what little I heard last night (and what I've read), I have a feeling that those early shows were extremely interesting. I probably would have been happy just sitting and listening to the two reminisce for an hour.

But instead we got music for an hour. And as good as it was, by the time he played "God Damn The Sun", I was ready for it to be over. I think he was too. Every time he asked how much time he had left, he seemed distressed at how much he had. I kind of shared his feeling. Not that it was a bad set, but I was extremely uncomfortable by the end, and it was getting kind of hard to enjoy the set.

Acid Mothers Temple and the Cosmic Inferno: Journey into the Cosmic Inferno and Pink Lady Lemonade -You're from Outer Space

2008-09-27T17:16:00.004-04:00

They're back! The Cosmic Inferno is finally back! And just in time. Kawabata Makoto introduced the Cosmic Inferno in 2005 when he felt that The Melting Paradiso UFO was becoming stale. What followed were 2 brilliant albums (and 3 or 4 not quite brilliant but still pretty cool albums) from AMT and The Cosmic Inferno. Then when he reformed The Melting Paradiso UFO and released some spectactular albums with them in 2006 and 2007.

What's the difference between the two bands? It's really not as much as you'd think, but it's just enough to make the difference. As far as the live show, the only difference I've seen between the two bands is the bassist/singers. Not that this is unimportant. Kawabata Makoto relies heavily on both Tabata Mitsuru and Tsyuama Atushi as lead vocalists and collaborators.
The Melting Paradiso UFO features longtime collaborator Tsuyama Atushi while The Cosmic Inferno features Tabata Mitsuru on bass and vocals. The first incarnation of The Cosmic Inferno included two drummers, but one of them could not get a visa to the U.S. because of a criminal record "for drugs". So while on album, The Cosmic Inferno made good use of two drummers to add a lot of rythmic intensity and complexity, live, they were basically the same band with a different bassist.

But apparently the two drummers is an important part of The Cosmic Inferno. So when drummer Okano Futoshi left the Cosmic Inferno, he was replaced by Afrirampo's drummer, Pikachu. As a drummer, she doesn't quite keep up with Okano. On "Anthem of the Space" and "IAO Chant from the Cosmic Inferno" created rythms that were punishing in their intensity. Pikachu's percussion just seems to add more noise to the mix. This is of course always welcome, but not quite as interesting.

But I'd still take Pikachu over Okano Futoshi any day because in addition to banging the drums, she sings. And as a vocalist, she's the best Kawabata's found since Cotton Casino left the group. In fact, she's a perfect replacement for Cotton, and I really hope she'll be invited to join TMPUFO.

Journey into The Cosmic Inferno is one of those AMT albums that threatens to be a conceptual mess but is partially saved by Pikachu. While the six tracks are called movements, there's not much to tie them together. The opening riff of "Master of The Cosmic Inferno" reappears at the end of "Ecstasy into the Cosmic Inferno" but that's about it. Usually these albums lack memorable jams and include too many frustrating and indulgent tracks. The 22 minute jam "Master of the Cosmic Inferno - Heart of Earth" opens with a strong riff but then becomes a disappointingly formless jam....until the 2nd part ("Heart of Earth" I presume) where Pikachu takes over. The band drops out and she begins to sing, chrip, cluck (not really sure what to call all of the noises she makes) a pretty but haunting melody. Slowly the band takes shape around her, and the song reaches a liesurely conclusion.

3rd movement, "Ecstasy into the Cosmic Inferno" wastes no time. It starts with the two drummers gently playing a beat and from there instruments are slowly layered over. First there's a guitar riff, then an organ drone. And then more guitar, sitar, synths, bass and what appears to be every instrument the band has available. A lesser group would become overwhelmed, but the jam never falls apart. After 11 minutes, Pikachu's vocals come in, and the song becomes even more frenzied. When the band finally cuts the pace in half and plays the riff from "Master of The Cosmic of Inferno" it feels like a relief. A very loud relief.

But the most surprising moments of this album come towards the end. Penultimate track, "Usisi" is about 8 minutes of acoustic guitar and incomprehinsible vocals (maybe this is just because I don't know Japanese. You never know with these guys). It's just one repetitive melody, but its simplicity is its genius. The track feels completely effortless but I never find a reason to hold that against them. And the closing track "Shalom Cosmic Inferno" provides a nice climax to the album. The band sings together and Kawabata unleashes a crazed but focused solo. Maybe the songs tied together better than I thought.

Pink Lady Lemonade - You're from Outer Space features basically the same lineup, only they've added longtime sporadtic vocal collaborator Audrey Gineset. Pink Lady Lemonade is AMT's trademark jam. Every version of the band plays this song live. It first appeared on their first album in a very simple version that just doesn't compare to the awesome beauty of the live version. Since then, there have been a few attempts at putting this piece on an album, but they have all fallen short. For some reason, Kawabata is incapable of recording the song as it's played live.

And with the opening track, AMT appear ready to fuck it up again. The first track is a 23 minute version of Pink Lady Lemonade, but the first ten minutes sounds nothing like the jam AMT fans know. Instead it's a totally different melody that's light and enjoyable, but when they finally start playing the song as it's known, it feels like too little too late.

Fortunately, the band redeems themselves in their next two tracks, "Message From Outer Space" and "Take me to The Universe" (yes, there's a theme here), featuring Pikachu and Tabata on lead vocals respectively. Both songs are perfect companions to Pink Lady Lemonade. While each song reaches its own frenzied climax, they both start with simple beautiful melodies, and are just gorgeous sounding. What makes Pink Lady Lemonade so unique among AMT's jams is how relaxed pleasant it is. Sure, the solos are always frenzied, but the melody at the core of the jam is exceedingly simple and pleasant. A rarity for this band. And for this album, The Cosmic Inferno maintain those good feelings for more than an hour, even when they aren't playing Pink Lady Lemonade.

The concluding version of Pink Lady Lemonade should satisfy all fans. While it's just over 10 minutes long, far shorter than the live version, it wastes no time. For the first few minutes, the band chants "Pink Lady Lemonade" while the guitar melody plays. And then Tabata howls "you're so sweeeeet" and the drums come in and the song takes off. Kawabata begins his solo shortly, and doesn't let up until the end of the song. This version wastes no time in knocking listeners off their feet.

In the AMT catalogue, these may be minor works. Except for Pink Lady Lemonade, none of these jams will become standards in their live set. Nevertheless, these are 2 of the most consistent AMT albums you can find. And apparently The Melting Paradiso UFO is back and has released 2 new albums...stay tuned.

Pictures of Low at Bell House on 9/24/2008

2008-09-24T21:22:00.006-04:00

Tuesday September 23, 2008 at Bell House: An Evening with Low

2008-09-24T19:19:00.002-04:00

First the setlist:

Soon
Last Snowstorm of the Year
Like a Forest
Canada
Belarus
Lion/Lamb
Sunflower
Breaker
Pretty People
Point of Disgust
LaLaLa Song
BREAK
Do you know how to waltz?
Violent Past
That's how you sing Amazing Grace
Hatchet
Starfire
Unknown Song
Lordy
Pissing
Laser Beam
ENCORE
Santa is Coming
New Song

As you may be able to see from the setlist, Low played a pretty diverse set, covering most of their stuff all the way back to The Curtain Hits the Cast. This was a surprise to me since every time I've seen them, the set has been mostly focused on new material (I've seen them on their tours following Trust and Destroyer and I saw a Christmas show that was heavy on Drums and Guns material prior to its release). I could easily think of ten more songs I would have loved to hear, but that didn't really bother me since they played for about 2 hours and included more than twenty songs. I'm wondering if their show the previous night at the Mercury covered a totally different set list. I'm kind of betting it did, and I sort of regret missing that.

The new bassist might actually be my favorite. I saw him earlier this year playing bass guitar with the Retribution Gospel Choir, so I was somewhat surprised to see him playing standup bass last night. It was a nice touch for a lot of the songs, especially when he played it with the bow. A couple of songs were played differently than I've heard them.

But as usual, the main attraction was Alan Sparhawk. Whether he was shredding during "Lordy" (shredding may be a bit much. It was a pretty relaxed solo--still, very effective), warming up "Canada" with feedback and droning or almost-shouting during "Breaker" and "All the Pretty People", he was the center of attention. And that's probably my only complaint. The bass seemed a bit low in the mix, and Mimi Parker's voice was usually burried under his. She only sang lead vocals for one song. It's pretty clear that Alan Sparhawk is the genius (yes, I said genius) behind Low (and at least two other bands), but Mimi Parker is still responsible for plenty of their finest moments. Unfortunately, those are fewer and fewer these days.

Beyond that, I'm not really sure what to say about this show. It was a strong performance by one of my favorite bands. Every Low show I've been to has had some awkward audience banter between Alan Sparhawk and the audience. This show wasn't an exception, but at least it was kept to a minimum. I have a friend who refused to go see Low because she thought their music couldn't possibly be as engaging in a live setting. This drove me crazy, because to me, Low is one of the more exciting live bands around. Sure, most of their songs aren't very danceable, and they are one of the quietest live bands around (but they can unleash their fair amount of noise as they did last night), but Low knows how to sell every single not of every single song. That's not something every band can do. And they can inspire an entire audience to remain quiet enough to hear a few plucked guitar notes. That's something special.

Evil Urges by My Morning Jacket: A brilliant new direction, or a band that's lost its way?

2008-09-22T18:48:00.002-04:00

By now My Morning Jacket fans have stopped scratching their heads in confusion and settled somewhere between two camps: those who hate Evil Urges and those that love it. While My Morning Jacket has already showed an interest in funk and prog rock, I doubt many fans anticipated some of the directions this would lead the band in. A friend of mine who is a pretty strong fan of the band was pissed off when he first heard this album. He described it as "yacht-rock" and said it sounded like Ween. A couple weeks later, his opinion was echoed in Pitchforkmedia.com's review of the album.

But not everyone has hated this album. Rolling Stone gave it four stars. But Rolling Stone gives everything four stars. Because Pitchfork's was the only review I'd read, I went into this review assuming that it's been pretty tepidly received. But Metacritic has the album receiving a 7.0--mostly positive reviews. But I hadn't read any of those when I started to listen to this album.

And right from the beginning, MMJ seems ready to to shatter the expectations of fans. Opening track, "Evil Urges" brings up memories of Z until Jim James starts singing. For this song he sings in a high falsetto that will be instantly grating to some listeners. The song features some interesting guitarwork towards the end, but ultimately fails to live up to its promise. Probably the most jarring song is "Highly Suspicious" where the falsetto is again on display, but this time he's backed by bizarre monotone vocals. This song makes me think of Prince. And I hate Prince. The solo towards the end is muted and wasted. Some might see MMJ going in a new funk and R&B direction with this song. I hear soft rock instead.

And then it gets worse. "I'm Amazed" is a downer because it's the first song on the album that sounds like MMJ, and it just makes me want to listen to one of the earlier MMJ albums. It's a pretty rock song that doesn't come close to matching their best work. And then there's "Thank You Too!" From the start, this song doesn't sound that different from MMJ's quieter more restrained songs. But when I got to the chorus, the yacht-rock accusations made perfect sense.

But halfway through the album, the quality dramatically picks up. "Librarian" is a haunting acoustic guitar driven song that holds up quite well. And for "Aluminum Park" and "Remnants" MMJ decides to be a rock band again, delivering two brilliant rock songs, bursting with energy. And then for the final two songs, "Smokin from Shootin" and "Touch me I'm going to scream pt. 2", they finally make their prog-rock sensibilities work for them. Both songs start quietly and build to a strong finish. If their other experiments had been as successful, they would have made a truly great album.

Pictures of Amanda Palmer at Soundfix Records on 9/19/2008

2008-09-21T21:41:00.004-04:00

Friday September 20, 2008, Soundfix Records Bar area (?): Amanda Palmer free in-store ...I guess

2008-09-20T15:10:00.005-04:00

I still don't get how it's an in-store performance if it's actually in a bar. But apparently Soundfix is that Williamsburg hipster-heaven that has a bar in the back of the CD store. Or a CD store at the back of the bar...not sure.

I would have been pissed off if I had paid for this. As a free show however, it was just a somewhat amusing disappointment. Amanda Palmer never seemed focused, and spent more time talking to the audience than playing. At times it was nice to observe the easy connection she forged with the audience. However, long waits between songs meant that the set was very short on actual music. And while I enjoyed hearing about her crazy mother and about how Ben Folds would drag a baby grand piano to every show he played, I found myself growing bored and restless.

I think she had some difficulties arriving. While I was browsing in the CD store, I overheard the manager speaking with her on the phone. The show was supposed to start at 8pm, but she walked into the building just a couple of minutes after 8. We were able to observe her entrance since we were seated right at the back next to the door.

We thought that was going to be our only chance to see her since the place was extremely crowded, the stage was low and Amanda has to sit to play piano. Thankfully, Amanda made everyone sit on down for the performance. As a result, we had a perfect unobstructed view of the stage. At least until she decided to move over to the house piano after the first song. Apparently her keyboard didn't sound very good on stage. From where we were sitting it sounded fine. The second song was much more energetic than the first. As a result, when she polled the audience, they voted for her remaining at the acoustic piano.

She maybe played 2 or 3 more songs (one of them on ukulele) before inviting her friend (Jason Webley?) to join her for a sing. They got about a minute and a half in before they were shut down. Apparently the fire department was on their way to shut down the show. This struck me as odd since it was only 9:30 and the loudest thing there was the applause. Amanda Palmer promised to continue the performance outside on the street, but I was too tired to wait for that. So I went home. Just didn't seem worth the trouble.

Diary of a Superfan: Acid Mothers Temple - an introduction

2008-09-16T20:39:00.003-04:00

So far, I'm not doing a very good job at my Diary of a Superfan entries. I haven't done much besides review a concert and an album. And that's a shame because my relationship with the music of Oneida and Centro-Matic is way too deep for a simple album or concert review. That sounds kind of stupid, but what I'm trying to say is this: because I've listened to both of those bands so much --both live and on album-- any reaction I have to their music is inevitably going to involve comparisons to previous albums/concerts and my strong personal connection to their music.

This probably makes for a better and more informative review than one written by someone who's just a casual listener or has never listened to the band before. But I'd like to go beyond just reviewing the music. What else I would do, I'm still not exactly sure. But our relationships with music is more than just a thumbs up/thumbs down review. At least mine certainly is. And while I was somewhat late to the party with Acid Mothers Temple, they have become one of my biggest musical obsessions over the past several years.

I had heard of the band in college, but never bothered to check them out. To me, they were one of those weird experimental bands that were somehow beyond me. I had heard of them referred to as a collective, so I assumed it was a very large band. And then for some reason in 2005, I decided to finally check them out. At this time, Acid Mothers Temple were touring under the name Acid Mothers Temple and The Cosmic Inferno. All that I knew about this incarnation was that it was supposedly a harder rocking version of the band. Beyond that, I really had little idea what to expect.

So I went to my first Acid Mothers Temple show. And I was totally blown away. The band played no more than four songs total that evening, three of them lasting well beyond 20 minutes. I will probably never forget the opening of that show. The keyboard player/guitarist Higashi Hiroshi started the set by making (what I have now learned are his typical) space age sound effects with his keyboard. Lead guitarist and leader of all versions of Acid Mothers Temple, Kawabata Makoto noodled about on electric sitar. The bassist, Tabata Mitsuro made strange percussion noises with his bass guitar and joined in the free-form jam. And the drummer just sat there. Until Kawabata suddenly started playing major chords on the sitar. And then all hell broke loose.

For the next hour and a half, I was subjected to some of the loudest music I had ever heard. And at one point I even took my earplugs (actually just toilet paper) out so that I could hear more of it. It was that good. And then my ears hurt too much so I put them back in. And somehow when I stepped closer and put my head in the direct path of the lead guitarists amp, it got even louder. At the end, in the middle of a breakneck fast song, Hiroshi suddenly became disgusted with his guitar, threw it to the ground and moved over to the keyboard where he proceeded to go apeshit. Kawabata finished his bit by swinging his guitar around and hooking it on one of the speakers above. The drummer and bassist continued to play for a good couple of minutes after the other two had left. And then it was over. I had fallen in love.

Since then, I have seen Acid Mothers Temple in various forms seven times. I have bought 29 of their albums. And I have spent countless hours of my life dancing around like an idiot in my room while listening to their music turned up as loud as I dare. Just by the numbers, Acid Mothers Temple are one of the most rewarding bands around for someone like me. I love loud, long songs. No one plays longer or louder. They tour and record constantly, sometimes releasing more than 5 albums in a year. A fan of this band never runs out of music to listen to.

And then there's the music itself. Sure, there's a reliance on extended guitar freakouts, but there's also so much more there. Band leader Kawabata Makoto never ceases experimenting, and bringing new contributors to the fold. The musicianship is nearly flawless. I say nearly, because Acid Mothers Temple can be one of the most deliberately sloppy bands on the planet. No song is ever played the same way twice.

And while Acid Mothers Temple is clearly Kawabata's show (he is a member of every incarnation of the band that I know of except for one. And that one has only one album to its name), he definitely lets his supporting members shine. Tsuyama Atushi, the bassist of AMT and the Melting Paradiso UFO in addition to being a great bassist, is also a great singer (when he decides to be. His gibberish freakouts are a staple of the live act). Former singer and keyboard player Cotton Casino may have looked like a drunk burnout, but she had the voice of an angel when she was in the band. Kawabata shares the songwriting credits with his band members, and the collaborative nature of the music is always in display.

But none of this would be possible without the crazed genius of Kawabata Makoto. He usually has about 5 instruments credited to him on every album, but it's the guitar he was made for. Watching him play guitar is a revelation. He swings it around, holds it up to the air and moves his fingers all over the fretboard with almost no effort. But it never sounds like aimless noodling. Somehow he manages to hit every right note even at his fastest and most reckless. He has written several times about communicating with the cosmos with his music. To the uninitiated, this sounds like the talk of a mad man. To those of us that have heard him, it sounds like the only reasonable explanation.

The New Year S/T

2008-09-15T18:22:00.003-04:00

It's usually a sign that something's gone wrong when a band releases a self titled album that isn't their first. The only exception I can think of is Camper Van Beethoven's 3rd album. Can released a self titled album shortly before falling apart. Weezer's released 2 new self titled albums since their comeback. Both have sucked. There are more examples, but I'll leave it at that for now. If anyone has any albums that they'd like to add to prove/disprove this rule, please post.

Anyway, The New Year's latest album is self titled, and it's almost as bad as that would indicate. The wonderful minimalism of Matt and Bubba Kadane's previous band Bedhead is almost nearly gone. I say nearly because opening track, "Folios" is about as minimalist as they come. The song opens with gently strum acoustic guitar and takes its full five minutes to build. Unfortunately, by the time the song has really captured my attention, it's almost over. This is true for most of the album's best moments. Album closer "The Idea of You" basically ends a minute after it finally picks up steam. "Seven Days and Seven Nights" promises one of the Kadane brothers classic guitar crescendos but ends way too soon.

As Bedhead, Matt and Bubba Kadane were one of the strongest minimalist rock groups out there. At the time, they made Low's sound look weak and unfocused. But while Low has consistently challenged themselves and taken their sound in wildly different directions, Matt and Bubba Kadane have changed just enough with The New Year to avoid accusations of repeating themselves. Adding piano to the mix served them well on their previous album, and it also lends some strength to their latest effort, especially on "The Company I Can Get". But for the most part, the album offers nothing new that I actually enjoy hearing. "The Door Opens" sounds like a song from a less interesting indie rock band, and it just gets on my nerves.

Another problem is the vocals. Bedhead had a tendency to bury the vocals in the mix. This was a smart decision. Neither of the Kadane brothers have an especially tuneful voice, and the lyrics to most of their songs aren't especially interesting or clever. But for some reason The New Year has decided that the vocals should be front and center in the mix. This does the band no favors.

But I guess I understand. The band seems to know that they have no memorable melodies for us. Except for "Folios", none of the songs stretch much beyond three minutes. There's nothing here with the ability to stun listeners like Bedhead classic "Rest of the Day". And absent a good melody on guitar, Matt and Bubba Kadane are no longer exceptional. They're just a disappointingly ordinary rock band.

Pictures from last night: Lightning Bolt and Growing

2008-09-14T20:47:00.007-04:00

Growing:

Lightning Bolt:

Saturday September 14, 2008 at some empty lot at 979 Broadway Brooklyn: Lightning Bolt and Growing

2008-09-14T16:00:00.002-04:00

The evening was already off to a bad start when we arrived at 5:45 and not a single band had played yet. The show was supposed to start at 3:30. Since it seemed extremely unlikely that lightning bolt would play before 8:30 or even 9, and since I had skipped lunch, we took a bus back to Clinton Hill, ate dinner and returned just in time for Growing. So we missed all of the other bands. I guess this will be the pattern for all of these reviews. There was a time when I'd spend my whole day at a music venue and would see every band that plays. But I'm too old for that now. Or at least I feel that way. So we probably missed about 2 or 3 bands. Whatever. If you want the full review go somewhere else. I only really cared about Lightning Bolt

But we were there for the entire Growing set. Anyone who's seen Lightning Bolt before, knows it's good to at least be there for the first band so that you can save a spot by the band's equipment. Lightning Bolt usually starts playing right after the band before them, and they never play on stage. More on this later.

So Growing. Not sure what to say here. I was mildly surprised to see that their music was made entirely (or mostly. I was to the side of the stage and didn't have a perfect view) with guitars. My old roommate had played their albums a few times, and it sounded like stuff made with computers or keyboards. Apparently they're able to get those ambient noises with guitars. Unfortunately, it's still not very interesting. A friend of mine who's friends with one of the members in the band mentioned that they were disappointed with their performance. I'm really not sure if I would have been able to tell the difference between that and a "good" performance.

As Growing reached the end of their set, the space by Lightning Bolt's equipment became extremely tight. Unfortunately, because of some technical difficulties, Lightning Bolt wasn't able to play right when Growing finished. In fact, they took about as long as any other band would take to finally play. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to matter much to the crowd who had started to push and shove before the band even started. I guess there's some excuse. Brian Chipendale was looping his vocals, and several times I saw Brian Gibson pick up his bass guitar and I thought the show was about to start. But the level of pushing and shoving was so bad that I thought we were going to fall on the band. And they hadn't even started playing!

Once they did, I didn't last long. I made it through one song, decided that this was too much hassle for too little payoff. Plus, I didn't feel like being drenched in sweat for the rest of the evening. My girlfriend had already left before the band had even started playing. I didn't blame her. So I stayed up front for the first song and then made my way back to the stage where I hoped to be able to see something. I really couldn't see much beyond the crowd. For most of the set I could just see the head of the bassist. At one point I was standing on a speaker and was able to see both band members, but that didn't last long.

Removed from the scene, it was really hard to get into the music. With the distance, I didn't really need my earplugs at all. Since the joy of listening to Lightning Bolt --both live and in the studio- is being overwhelmed by their sound, this really took a lot out of the show. The set was entirely "new" (they also played a set of almost entirely new material in January of 2007, so I'm not sure what songs were repeated and what songs were actually new) set except for Megaghost at the end. A few of the songs were really good, but at such a distance, I wasn't able to get into it as I have in the past.

When I first saw Lightning Bolt, I thought it was one of the best shows I'd ever seen. They had caught me totally off guard when they began playing immediately after the preceding band. While I never got close enough to see much of anything, I was close enough to hear the band perfectly. There was no shoving or pushing, and I was able to just enjoy being overwhelmed by their sound.

The 2nd and third times I saw them, I was smart enough to save myself a spot at the front. Both times I left drenched in sweat and aching from nearly an hour of battle with the rest of the audience. I spent a lot of time at both shows thinking I was about to be pitched over the drumset. With the amps and the drums right in front of me and the exhaustion of holding back the mob behind me, I was truly blown away. I remember one song in particular from that last show that was just one extremely repetitive and low bass riff that just drove me insane. I left both shows deliriously happy and exhausted.

But now, I just wish they would grow up and play on the stage. Maybe I would have been able to enjoy watching from afar last night if the show had been indoors. With walls holding their sound in, I think they would have been a lot louder. But now that Lightning Bolt is a fairly famous noise act that can draw 100s of people to their shows, their shows have become an orgy of violence that makes the music really hard to enjoy. I'm sure there are people out there who'd disagree, but for me the novelty of not being able to see Lightning Bolt has worn off.

Is Songs in A&E Really Spiritualized's best album in 10 years?

2008-09-11T18:40:00.003-04:00

The new Spiritualized album appears to have received glowing reviews from just about everyone. I swear, I've read multiple reviews that said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the best Spritualized album in ten years." Or something like that. I sometimes wonder if these people are listening to the same album that I bought.

One thing the album has going for it is lots of anticipation. Because of an illness that nearly killed him, Jason Pierce, this album was delayed a couple of years (the last album came out in 2003), and has been named after the Accident and Emergency Ward in British hospitals. It's Pierce's "I nearly died" album. So it has a good backstory and a good pun for the title. But what about the songs?

Honestly, I can't fathom why anyone would hold this up with his best work. At first I thought I was just frustrated that he had taken a bit of a musical departure. Only two of the songs on the album, "Yeah Yeah" and "You lie you cheat" really rock. The majority of the songs display Pierce's quieter side. I don't know about you, but I never listened to Spiritualized or The Spacemen 3 for the quiet moments. Not that they've been unwelcome. But any song that puts Jason Pierce's voice front and center is starting at a disadvantage. And that describes just about every song on this album.

It's not all bad. Opener, "Sweet talk" is a genuinely affecting song that may not stand up there with "Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space" (and really, how many songs can compare to that masterpiece?), but it's not too far off, and it is one of his more memorable songs. And maybe I'm in a minority opinion, but his attempt to provide another similarly rousing song with "Soul on Fire", falls completely flat. It's the first single, and apparently a lot of people like it, but for me it does nothing. It reminds me of "Stop Your Crying" which was also the first single on Let it Come Down and one of my least favorite songs on that album (I was really worried that album would suck when I heard that song).

"Babe I'm just a fool" is a genuine musical departure for Pierce that actually works. At seven minutes, it's the longest song on the album where most of the songs fall between 2 and 4.5 minutes. The song is driven by a simple acoustic strumming that eventually gets overpowered by horns and backing vocals. I think there are backing vocals. There always are. Anyway, it's a very good song. But it's one of few on this album. Too many of the songs are too somber and flat. One song like "Death Take Your Fiddle" is cool and interesting. But then you have "Sitting on Fire" and "Borrowed your gun" and others like it. It gets old pretty fast.

So am I missing something? I haven't seen a single negative review of this album. Who's wrong here? I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's every single critic that's reviewed this album. And it's not just because I'm self centered. Or because the only other person I've spoken with about this album was equally disappointed.

No, I'm basing this on their live show. To me, nothing reveals the strength or weakness of a musical act like their live show. And when I saw them in concert over the summer, it was a horribly disappointing experience. Well maybe that's an exaggeration. The opening performance of "You lie you cheat" was wonderfully noisy and merged into a wonderful version of "Shine a Light". They also played "Lay Back in the Sun" for the first time in 10 years (for me at least) and did a bangup job of it too. But then there was that middle section of new songs. They just didn't hold the same power as the older material. The closing medley of "Come Together" and a blissfully chaotic version of "Take me to the Other side" felt like way too little too late (well it wouldn't have been too late if they had kept playing. This was also a comparitively short set from Spiritualized).

I could blame the backup singers. They don't really fit in with Spiritualized's best live moments. But Jason Pierce is the one who decided to bring them along instead of other musicians that could make more noise. And here's why I love taking my girlfriend to shows. Because otherwise, I'd wonder if it was just my bad/tired mood that ruined the show. But when we left, she complained that the songs that weren't rock songs dragged everything down. Maybe Spaceman will go back to rocking on the next album. Or maybe he'll tour America a 2nd time like he did after Let it Come Down with a more stripped down and rock focused band. I really hope so. Because his current musical path is no more interesting than the typical Brit-rock act. Which is a shame because Spiritualized has always been one of the most revelatory and original bands that I've listened to.

The Gutter Twins, Saturnalia, plus a few words about Greg Dulli

2008-09-09T19:04:00.002-04:00

Saturnalia for me will always be a depressing landmark in Greg Dulli's career. Not because the albums marks any major dips in quality. And Dulli's collaboration with Lanegan is really nothing to be upset about. But for whatever reason, this is the album that has finally convinced me that Greg Dulli is a hack.

Very little on Saturnalia is worth remembering. To be honest, I've listened to it several times, and I can't remember more than a couple of songs well enough to write this review without putting the CD in and flipping through the tracks to refresh my memory. But that's okay. Nothing on this album should surprise anyone who's familiar with Dulli and Lanegan's recent work. It's all the same typically moody dark music they've been making for the last few years. The album opens with the Lanegan-sung song, "The Stations" which is good at setting a mood, but fails to ever build any real energy.

And it never really gets much better. "Idle Hands" opens with some interesting ominous vocals and vaguely foreign sounding guitar riffs, but it quickly morphs into a painfully bland rock song. Lanegan's deep voice has been put to great use in the past (more on this later), but here, both Dulli and Lanegan seem to count in it's tonal depth to make up for lacking musical and lyrical depth. Dulli's songs are a little bit better, but still not much more memorable. "All Misery/Flowers" sounds like it belongs on the first Twilight Singers album. The album picks steam in its last four tracks. "I was in love with you" is a genuinely pleasant song, and "Bete Noire" actually has more than Lanegan's voice going for it.

"Each to Each" is my favorite song on the album with it's electronic drums and near-absence of Mark Lanegan. This is the kind of seductive rock that Dulli has excelled at for years. Unfortunately, it's too little too late. And closing track "Front Street" quietly brings the album to a close, but because everything preceding it had failed to captivate in the first place, it feels like somewhat of an anti-climax.

More depressing than the songs on this album is what they reveal about Greg Dulli. The man is a hack. More specifically, his entire artistic persona is somewhat cheesy at best. Just the name of his latest project should make anyone with any taste groan. GUTTER TWINS? This has to be one of the worst band names ever. Or at least close. Was 3dgy Boyz taken? And then look at the artwork. The cover art is a trailer park on a stormy night. And the CD booklet has pictures of Lanegan and Dulli in a bar, in a bathroom and standing in front of a dilapidated building. And for some reason Dulli has a cigarette in all except one of the pictures.

Unfortunately, this kind of aesthetic has informed Dulli's entire career. It's taken me a while to be bothered by this because every now and then Dulli manages to write and record a truly great album. I'm apparently in a critical minority for thinking that The Afghan Wig's finest moment was 1995's Black Love. And this album puts Dulli's brooding self-centered persona on full display. Each lyric sheet is accompanied by a black and white photograph that supposedly matches the song. And the title Black Love is enough to make anyone cringe.

But as far as I'm concerned, that's where criticism of this album should end. Sure, the songs are overblown and melodramatic, but Dulli's able to deliver the goods. And "Summer's Kiss" is a burst of pure joy. And for all the gloominess, songs like "Going to Town" and "Blame, etc." should make even the most jaded listener want to dance. The album opens and closes with the same ambient noise. For "Crime Scene Part 1" it eases us into the searing music, and on "Faded" it allows us to catch our breath at the end of the album.

The Afghan Wigs next and final album 1965 was a very solid and enjoyable album, but it didn't come close to matching the ambition of its predecessor. And with the first Twilight Singers album, Dulli seemed permanently poised to move into at least somewhat sunnier territory. That ended with 2003's Blackberry Belle. While Black Love may be self obsessed and over ambitious, Blackberry Belle is a masterpiece in understatement. The guitars are never as loud as they were with The Afghan Wigs, the songs rarely strain much beyond four minutes. And Greg Dulli rarely yells, instead settling into his new role as a crooner.

While Black Love was searing, Blackberry Belle is a beautiful and delicate affair. Opening track "Martin Eden" begins with piano and almost whispered vocals. When the guitars come in, they lift the song up as Dulli sings "How wide? How deep the river? black - as dark as night. How long? How far? I'll know when I get to the other side." And eventually the song comes right back down to the same quiet beauty that it began with. This pretty much sums up every song on the album. Nearly every song on here feels both like a pop song and an epic at the same time.

Especially the closer, "Number Nine". Here, Dulli allows Lanegan to take most of the vocal duties (he wasn't an official member of this band at the time), and the results are stunning. Lanegan's deep voice puts more force behind the lyrics than Dulli ever could. The combination of soaring guitars and strings played over Lanegan's booming voice on the final verse is truly stunning.

So how can someone I called a "hack" make two amazing works of art like Black Love and Blackberry Belle? Obviously Dulli is a talented songwriter. But those talents are not always on display. My theory is that both of those albums are examples of what happens when Dulli is able to dig deep and put all of his emotional and spiritual turmoil onto an album. I remember reading something in Rolling Stone once where Dulli basically claimed that he couldn't perform some of the songs on Black Love because of where they took him.

While this sounds pretty melodramatic, and I have no idea what circumstances led to the writing of that collection of songs, the origins of Blackberry Belle are well documented. When Dulli's close friend director Ted Demme died suddenly of a heart attack, he scrapped an entire album's worth of material and wrote a new one in tribute to his dead friend. None of the songs refer to Demme directly in any way that I can tell, but as you can tell by the above lyrics I've quoted, it's an album that's pre-occupied with death and loss. You can hear the heartbreak in nearly every song on here.

And there lies the secret of Greg Dulli. He's not a clever lyricist. Sonically, his music provides no new insights. And his aesthetic sense is horrible. But somehow he manages to write some of the most memorable albums of recent memory. This doesn't stem from his raw musical ability. Rather, Dulli is able to create such master-works because of his impressive ability to dig deep within himself and put those difficult moments nakedly into songs. God that sentence is awful. But I don't know how else to describe it. Dulli's best moments are when he lays himself bare for the listener and allows the brooding musician facade fade away. The rest of the time he's a bore.

Pictures from the Monster Island Block Party: Oneida, Ex-Models and Golden Triangles

2008-09-07T21:31:00.017-04:00

Oneida, First Set:

Human Sacrifice Show:

Ex-Models:

Golden Triangles:

The only picture that came out well from the Oneida live album show:

September 7, 2008: Monster Island Block Party at Secret Project Robot - Oneida, Ex-Models, Golden Triangle and weird "art" performances and Oneida

2008-09-07T16:15:00.006-04:00

With this review I am going to start trying to post pictures (when I have them). Pictures will be posted shortly after the review is complete (so they'll show up first when reading the blog). I thought about putting the pictures in the text, but that's too complicated, and probably not ideal for reading/viewing.

Despite being advertised as a block party, this show took place entirely indoors at Secret Project Robot. I suspect that this had something to do with the fact that it rained for nearly the entire day, but since I never saw anything set up outside, I really don't know if this was their plan all along. When we arrived, it was raining pretty hard. I might have blown this one off, but Oneida performing a 2nd show later that night in their studio, and I needed to be there before they played at 5:30 to pick up our tickets.

So I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived at 5:15 to see that the show/party was entirely indoors, I was a bit frustrated to see that there were no performances at the time and that I was unable to find anyone in Oneida (I had contacted the drummer, Kid Millions, on MySpace in order to request tickets), but eventually we ran into Hanoi Jane (Oneida's lead guitarist), and he was nice enough to give me two tickets. Then Kid Millions showed up as well as Dave, the long haired guy I've seen at nearly every Oneida show since moving here (he was also in the band for one weekend). I learned that Raphael Saadiq, the asshole who cut into 30 minutes of Oneida's set time last week, was actually a member of Toni! Tone! Tony! Jane seemed amused that Saadiq's long set had made me angry. Still kind of angry about that.

Now you might think that for a self professed superfan, a chance to speak with the musicians of a favorite band is something to celebrate. However, the truth is more complicated. While the guys in Oneida are exceedingly nice and approachable, not every musician is. And no one wants to look like a dork in front of their favorite bands. But what about when the band members are extremely nice and approachable like Oneida? Well then you face another problem. My primary interaction with these people is watching them perform, yelling after each song and dancing/flailing about until I'm out of my mind. There's something about this kind of relationship that makes casual social interaction inherently strange to me. While I've still been able to thoroughly enjoy performances by musicians I've spoken to (and even share friends with), I still find it somewhat disconcerting to break down the social barriers between artist and fan.

But enough of that bullshit. How was the show/party? I'm curious how this thing would have been received if it were an outdoor performance. I kind of think it benefited by being moved inside by the rain (assuming that's what happened). The performance spaces felt very full during every performance. This is probably a good thing, since not all of them were so great. And since Secret Project Robot is located in a pretty desolate part of Williamsburg, we would have been faced with a pretty empty block party rather than a packed party at an art gallery (.

Well the first "performance" that we were able to see was some sort of performance art thing in the basement area. Since none of the performance spaces actually had a stage, it was extremely difficult to see much of anything without being in one of the first three rows. All we were able to see were painted people flailing about and yelling while someone made noise with his guitar. After getting bored rather quickly, we decided to go back upstairs and relax in a more ventilated room. The next performance upstairs was some sort of noise band. It took us about 5 minutes to get bored of them (never bothered to catch their name) and move back downstairs to wait for Oneida to set up.

Apparently the art performance had been very messy because the whole floor was being mopped up by several people who were covered in paint. Once the cleanup was done, we were able to get a spot (almost) at the front for Oneida. There was just one long haired guy in an American flag vest that was all over the place. Rather than set up to noisy obnoxious music, soft jazz was playing on the speakers while Oneida set up. This was a nice change of pace. I really don't have much to say about this set. They played Pre-Teen Weaponry for the fourth time that I've seen. It was good, but I would have liked to hear something else this time around. The 2nd and last song was a short (for a live performance) version of "Snow Machine". And then they were done. I would have been a bit disappointed, but it was a free show, and we were going to see a 2nd set later that night.

By the time we got back upstairs, this band called Comas (I think that's what they said) was playing. They sounded pretty noisy, angry and good, and I would have liked to see them, but I was hungry and didn't really want to miss the Ex-Models, so we went to eat and were lucky enough to find a decent restaurant a few blocks away. When we got back, The Ex-Models seemed to be mostly set up downstairs, and there was another band set up upstairs. So we had no idea who was playing next or where. We walked around a bit more looking at the art. And then a procession of scantily (and in one case, naked) people walked by with white paint on their bodies. The procession led downstairs for another "art" piece. This one was some sort of human sacrifice. I wasn't impressed. If this had been the introduction to some sort of band with talent, then I might have been intrigued. But on its own, it did nothing for me. Just some naked people acting weird.

And now (since I don't really know where else to put it), a word about the audience at the show. One word: hipsters. By now, complaining about hipsters has gone beyond cliche. But they're real. And they're all over Williamsburg. And they were out in force last night. The bad haircuts, tight pants, tattoos, bad dancing, artistic pretentiousness (we were in an art gallery after all, and 2 of the performances were "art" pieces). I'm not really complaining. Other than a few people who were a bit too drunk/excited, the show was plenty of fun. And I enjoy people watching. And even if the "art" performances were kind of silly and pointless, it certainly made this one of the most interesting shows I've been to. I may not really enjoy art that much, but it was nice to be in a place that was more interesting than your typical bar.

So after having some technical issues while setting up (one of the guitarists amps started to smoke), The Ex-Models finally played. Unfortunately the guitarist continued to have technical difficulties throughout the show. As a result, the Ex-Models only played two songs. The first was an extremely repetitive and abrasive number that is more easily appreciated at a distance for the energy and skill that goes into it. The second song they played was a wonderful mix of noisy guitarwork and tribal drumming. It was a real shame that they couldn't play more.

And then back upstairs for the final band of the actual party, Golden Triangles. From their set-up (two female singers with tambourines, 2 guitarists, drums and bass guitar) they looked like they'd be some type of girl-fronted garage rock band. And that was almost right. The sound was too muddy to be garage rock, but they definitely had that kind of energy. The vocals were somewhat abrasive, but the energy of the singers was infectious. The drummer actually did pretty well when he sang. The drummer and bassist were probably the strongest musicians in the band. One song towards the end had a really good bass groove, but inexplicably fell apart.

The crowd went crazy for pretty much the entire set. By the end, there was no division between the band and the rest of people dancing to the music. That was fine, but it got a bit out of control when people kept bumping into the PA speaker and one jackass decided to spray beer everywhere. I did enjoy watching the guitarist play half a song while being held up by the audience. At the end of the show, the band seemed to be leaving and then abruptly dove right into another song. I think by the time Golden Triangles played, most everyone there was pretty drunk. Or maybe they were just that good. I was certainly pleasantly surprised.

And then finally, the moment I'd been waiting for. The show in Oneida's studio for the recording of a live album. Bobby, Jane and Shahin were all wearing absurd burgundy jackets. The space was extremely cramped, and I was lucky enough to get a spot by the steps leading to the control room. Partially because of the strange set up (the band played in a circle facing some of the audience members while others stood by the door. space was tight), it was not the typical concert atmosphere. Oneida passed around beer and champagne (and other stuff) to the audience, I think hoping to get a looser crowd response. I tried to do my part, cheering loudly and yelling for them to "play something by Oneida!" But a fair amount of time was spent with the various members of Oneida talking among eachother and telling jokes.

The material was entirely new. I hadn't heard any of these songs played live before. There were at least two minute long free-noise freakouts. A couple small instrumental numbers featuring just a couple members of the band. Of the songs, only a couple really stood out for me. One was what I'd consider classic (at least these days) Oneida: a punishing keyboard/drum groove with noisy and fierce guitarwork on top. Another song featured both Shahin and Kid Millions on the drums. The closer was a long jam that unfortunately didn't captivate me as much as some of their other long jams have. But by that point, the room felt like an oven, and I was sort of looking forward to the end. Which is a shame, because the song really seemed to be getting into a good groove by the end. But then it was over. And as nice as everyone had been, I just wanted to thank the band and get into the cool air as soon as possible. Hopefully I'll be able to listen to that show again soon.

Diary of a Superfan: Dual Hawks by Centro-matic/South San Gabriel

2008-09-03T18:00:00.004-04:00

It has happened. Will Johnson/Centro-Matic/South San Gabriel (all three are basically the same band since Will Johnson writes all of the songs, and his three band-mates from Centro-Matic join him on all three projects) has finally lost me. This is no small feat. I used to see Centro-Matic in concert nearly once a month, have purchased every album/ep/single I could find and by now have seen them more than thirty times live. But after this, I can't be a superfan anymore. This double-album the most unessential and least interesting music he has recorded to date. The most interesting thing about it is the title: it's the only double album I've heard of to be recorded by "two" (they're really the same band) bands.

So lets start with the Centro-Matic disc. Judging by the reviews I read, I was in a minority for considering their previous album, Fort Recovery, to be a new low point in their career. But even that album had more memorable hooks than Dual Hawks. Other than the band's attempt to become a barroom country band on "Twenty-Four", there are few flashes of creativity here. In fact, Centro-Matic sounds LESS creative than they did in their Denton heyday. What's so frustrating about the songs here is that they're not bad, they're just not memorable at all. There's simply no reason to listen to this album if you have any other Centro-Matic album.

The South San Gabriel disc isn't much better. It benefits from more interesting and diverse instrumentation, but like its companion, it also lacks hooks. The notable exception for me is the closing track, "From This I Will Awake" which manages to finally grab me as Will Johnson sings "I may need you to wait" as the song climaxes. Unfortunately, by then I've stopped paying attention. The tone of this disc is so somber and morose that even when the band comes up with an interesting arrangement like they do on "Of Evil/For Evil" and "Senselessly", I just can't stay interested.

With Dual Hawks it is finally clear that Will Johnson is spreading himself thin. There is maybe enough material on these two discs for one decent album. If they had put their full energies behind the best ten songs, maybe I would be writing a very different review. But they didn't. And Centro-Matic and South San Gabriel are performing "together" as I write this. Maybe the shows will prove grueling and Will Johnson will finally wise up and record under one band name. Here's hoping.

Hamlet 2 and Sukiyaki Western Django

2008-09-01T18:38:00.001-04:00

My dad used to (and maybe he still does. I don't spend enough time in Texas these days to know for sure) frequently complain that the arts critics at The Dallas Observer tried to wear too many hats at the same time. Robert Wilonsky wrote a substantial portion of the magazine's music and film reviews. I always sort of felt that this was an unfair criticism. The paper probably didn't have enough money to hire a full time film and music critic. And really, if you can write an album review, you can write a movie review. Us music lovers also frequently love movies.

So to that end, I'll start including movie reviews in this blog. This weekend I saw Hamlet 2 and Sukiyaki Western Django.

I'll start with the first movie that I saw (and also the easiest to review), Hamlet 2. If this movie doesn't start Steve Coogan's career as a star in America, then there's really no justice in the world. While I am still mostly unfamiliar with his television work in the UK as the self-centered television show host Alan Partridge, I have seen two of his star performances in 24 Hour Party People and Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, and I remember vividly how both movies (especially the first) were well served by Coogan's comic skills.

However, both of those movies (especially Tristram Shandy) involved frequently breaking the forth wall, and required Coogan to portray not just the characters of the story, but himself as well. In Hamlet 2, he gives a much more straightforward performance as Dana Marschz (pronounced Marsessesss--or something like that), a failed actor and failing drama teacher. Several clips of his advertising work quickly give us a good idea of how his acting career went. And a school performance of Erin Brockovich by the only two members of his drama program give us a good idea of where his his teaching career is headed (nowhere).

But two instigating events (and allow me to digress and point out how wonderful it is that writers Pam Brady and Andrew Fleming were able to think of more plot devices than Dana Marschz being weird. The writing is superb; it never sinks into laziness and relies on one single factor to deliver all the laughs or plot development) quickly change things for Dana. First, because the school has cancelled the cool extra-curricular activities, his drama class has swelled in size, including what drama student Epiphany Sellars refers to as "ethnics". Second, because of budget cuts, the theater program has just one last term.

This and his hope to finally earn a positive review from the highschool paper's theater critic (one if many hilarious minor roles that scatter the film), Dana attempts to put his own work into production: Hamlet 2. I still don't fully understand the plot of the play. It involves Hamlet, Jesus, "Satan french kissing the President", a time machine and a musical number extolling Jesus' sexiness (one of the best scenes of the film). Reactions to the script range from ridicule from his wife Brie (a character that would have felt horribly implausible and unnecessary with anyone except for Catherine Keener in the role), outrage from his school principal to bafflement from some of his students parents.

As you know by now (if you've seen any trailers), Dana finally pulls of his production. He does this thanks to his dedicated cast who --not as implausibly as you would think-- actually buy into Dana's artistic vision and put all of their varied talents into the production. Next to Steve Coogan's performance, his young co-stars are my favorite thing about this movie. I haven't managed to find the ages of these cast members, but the majority of them actually looked like they could be in highschool (something rare in Hollywood films). More importantly, they actually ACT like highschoolers. Of course they make fun of Dana at the start of the film, but their conversion to his ardent supporters is entirely believable.

I've left out several great supporting performances. Amy Poehler as the jaded ACLU lawyer, Cricket Feldstein (she married a Jew). Elizabeth Shue, playing Elizabeth Shue who has quit acting to work as a nurse but still misses getting to make out with actors in movies. David Arquette in a largely silent role. But it's Coogan who brings them all together and who makes Hamlet 2 a smash both on stage and on the screen.

Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django is a much harder film to review. For one, I'm not sure whether I liked it or disliked it. Secondly, what kind of movie was it? I don't think it was a comedy (although someone behind us had a very different idea and laughed at just about every inappropriate moment in the film), but it certainly had elements of slapstick. Despite all of the shooting, stabbing and blowing things up, I'd hesitate to call it an action movie. And calling this an art film just feels like a lame cop-out to excuse the films baffling elements.

The story is incomprehensible except for the most basic elements: Two rival gangs, The Reds and The Whites are in a state of war in a small Japanese old western village (I should probably stop here to let you know that the film is set in some kind of fantasy world that combines the old west with ancient Japan. Swords and guns are used interchangeably). A lone gunman arrives in town. The rest of the plot is some bizarre re-interpretation of Yojimbo and Fistful of Dollars. The rival gangs are after some sort of treasure (I can't remember where it turned out to have been placed), and there's a subplot about a murdered Red who had married a White and fathered a boy. The mother returns to the Whites and appears to have some sort of revenge plot.

I have a feeling that anyone who's seen many of Miike's films (I have only seen Dead or Alive) has some idea of what comes next: radical shifts in story and tone. Several characters you thought would live end up dying while others turn out to be amazing gunslingers. And then there's the sheriff with multiple personalities. And the leader of The Reds changes his name to Henry and makes a big deal of reading Shakespeare's Henry VI. Oh, and Quentin Tarantino is there to introduce the story, explain (poorly) one of the characters and parody his own training sequence from Kill Bill 2.

Apparently Miike's made four films since this one. He's made somewhere close to 80 films already. While the production values don't appear to suffer (much), they do suffer from a serious lack of creative restraint. But I've only seen 2/78 of his films. It would take a lot more time to find a representative sample. Sukiyaki Western Django feels as if it was made up as the director and cast went along. I know this can't be the case since the almost entirely Japanese speaking cast had to learn their English lines phonetically (something that's especially remarkable since Takashi Miike doesn't even speak English. Or so I've been told).

Takashi Miike's lack of restraint certainly makes this film frustrating. But I'm not sure if that's a bad thing. Sure, the finale isn't as emotionally satisfying as Yojimbo, Fistful of Dollars or Last Man Standing, but should a film about an orphaned child and massacres ever be satisfying?

You & Me by The Walkmen

2008-08-31T15:15:00.001-04:00

You & Me by The Walkmen has been called something of a return to form by The Onion and Pitchforkmedia (the only reviews I regularly read). This is kind of ridiculous when you consider that this is only the band's 4th album in less than ten years of existence. Sure, One Hundred Miles Off failed to capture the same magic that made Bows and Arrows such an amazing album, but OHMO certainly wasn't a bad album, and it's not like lead singer Hamilton Leithauser started to rap or anything.

All that being said, One Hundred Miles Off was a bit of a disappointment. Not because there were any bad songs on the album (although a part of me kind of hates "Tenley Town"), but because in an attempt to duplicate Bows and Arrows, the album fell horribly short. And how could it have done anything else? Bows and Arrows featured three of the strongest and most intense rock songs of the past decade ("The Rat", "Little House of Savages" and "Thinking of a Dream I Had"). Whenever One Hundred Miles Off tried to duplicate the strength of these songs, it fell far short by comparison. Rather One Hundred Miles Off succeeded best when the band decided to relax and dial down the intensity as they did on their opening and closing tracks "Louisiana" and "Another One Goes By".

So what about the new one? I'm three paragraphs into this review and I haven't said anything. What I was getting at is that here The Walkmen have figured out that they aren't going to be able to repeat their strongest moments. Instead, they try to move their sound forward with varying degrees of success. The relaxed tone (and length) of this album invites the most comparison with their debut album Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone, but while both albums are among The Walkmen's quietest work, You & Me occasionally still soars the same emotional heights of Bows and Arrows.

Last fall I saw The Walkmen perform about half of the songs on this album. Two songs stuck out at the show and also stand out on the album: "In the New Year" and "New Country". The first song is driven by an organ melody that when combined with Hamilton Leithauser's vocals creates one of the most memorable tunes of their career. While it never matches the intensity of "The Rat" or "Thinking of a Dream I Had", it still packs a strong punch. It succeeds by not trying to duplicate the relentless energy of those earlier songs. "In the New Year" frequently calms/quiets down before picking itself back up again.

"New Country" represents something new in my enjoyment of The Walkmen: a quiet (the song features only Paul Maroon's stellar guitarwork and Hamilton Leithauser's singing) song that stands out above all of the rock songs. I remember seeing that The Walkmen not only opened for The Pogues in concert but also have covered "The Auld Triangle" in concert. You can hear the influence in "New Country" which sounds more like a folk song played with electric guitar than a typical Walkmen song. Other quiet moments on the album are quite memorable, specifically "Red Moon" and the closing "If Only it Were True".

And the rest of the album? Some songs are truly forgettable, a problem I haven't had with other Walkmen albums. But then again, a lot of the melodies on this album stay in my head far longer than I would ever have expected. Even if they aren't instantly memorable, songs like "The Blue Route" and "Long Time Ahead of Us" sound and feel almost instantly familiar.

This album won't win The Walkmen any new fans from their detractors, but those of us who always find something to enjoy in ther unique sound will find plenty to enjoy. Four albums into their career, they are still playing with the same vintage equipment, making the same sounds. For me, it still hasn't gotten old, and it still offers promise for the future.

Diary of a Superfan: Oneida, Friday August 29th, South Street Seaport

2008-08-30T18:33:00.001-04:00

This post serves two purposes: It is a short (cause the concert was short) concert review of the Oneida show I saw last night. It is also the introduction to my new series, Diary of a Superfan.

I would consider myself a superfan of several bands. Oneida is definitely one of them. How do I define a superfan? I guess several factors are important: purchasing every piece (or at least make a good effort as we'll discuss when I get to Acid Mothers Temple) of recorded music by the band in question, no matter how irrelevant redundant or bad, attending concerts as frequently as possible (for example: seeing a band two nights in the row when their tour hits your town/state, or in the case of local bands, seeing them every chance you get), and knowing irrelevant details about the band like what kind of instruments they use, the first, last names and aliases of band members and clothing styles/mannerisms.

I am definitely an Oneida superfan. While I didn't start listening to them until I purchased their 2003 release Secret Wars, I have been a very devoted listener. I have purchased every album/single/ep I could find, including their awful and not easy to find first album that isn't really an Oneida album (only one of the members of the current lineup plays on the album). And while I only saw them in concert once when I lived in Austin, missing a second chance because of a severe bout of depression that sucked the joy out of just about everything except sleeping, I have seen nearly every single Oneida show in New York since I moved here in the summer of 2006.

I'm sure there are people who have seen Oneida more often (like this guy Dave that I see at nearly every show who's actually played in the band a couple of times), and people who love Oneida albums more than I do (for instance, I find The Wedding to be a mostly dull affair, but I've been told that there are people who regard it as something of a masterpiece), but I am not claiming to be THE superfan. Merely a superfan.

And why am I such a superfan of Oneida? God, I don't know where to start. I guess the short answer is that I think they are one of the best rock bands around today. And except for a few shows where they were clearly phoning it in, Oneida puts on one of the most consistently entertaining and interesting live shows around.

Unfortunately, last night, they weren't given much of a chance to do this. Oneida's set was very short. They took the stage at 8:30 and were off shortly after 9 (I think New York has pretty strict noise ordinances for outdoor shows. At a place like The South Street Seaport which isn't even close to apartment buildings, this is kind of ridiculous and infuriating) thanks to two openers that outlasted their welcome and then kept playing for ten minutes. While eating dinner, my girlfriend and I could hear Endless Boogie. At a distance, they sounded pretty good. But I'd seen them up close once and remembered nothing but mindless blues-rock soloing.

After Endless Boogie was Raphael Saadiq. This was probably the most miserable forty-five minutes of my life. Well that's an exaggeration. Most of the time we wandered around the area. Not only was Saadiq's soul music especially dull, but the guy didn't even have a good voice. Unfortunately, when we came back around the time we thought he'd be done, he was STILL PLAYING. And then after hearing people cheer he said something like, "Do you want one more song?" and I couldn't stop myself from yelling, "no!" AND THEN HE PLAYED THREE MORE SONGS. In case you can't tell, I was very angry and upset that the headliner's set got cut short and rushed because the openers played too long.

So how was Oneida? Well they only played two songs. One was Pre-Teen Weaponry, their new three movement album. The second was "Double Lock Your Mind". Pre-Teen Weaponry was especially strong last night. I've now heard it live three times, and last night's rendition was clearly the strongest. Kind of wish that version was on the album to be honest. The first two parts were stellar as usual, but I especially noticed louder and stronger guitars for the second. I could also hear Jane sing (I couldn't the last time). The third part is usually the most frustrating, and I tend to endure it more than I enjoy it, but at one point last night they actually got a pretty strong riff going. Hopefully they'll do more of that in the future.

Bobby had a new keyboard with him, and it was definitely way too low in the mix. I'm hoping this was a problem with the sound system and not his new equipment. This was especially problematic during the final part of DLYM when only Bobby and Millions (drummer for those of you that aren't familiar) were on the stage. Otherwise, it was a great but way too short performance. Not one of the memorable ones, but I don't blame them. They didn't have enough time to play, and the metal fence six feet in front of the stage didn't do much to encourage intimacy. And the bald douche guy introducing the band and talking about what a "crazy" night it was really grated on my nerves. River to River does a really good job of making me want to pay to see live music. Maybe it's all part of some sort of plan.

Sunday August 24, 2008, McCarren Park: Yo La Tengo, Titus Andronicus and Ebony Bones

2008-08-24T21:39:00.001-04:00

This is probably (I only say probably because we've been told that each year would be the last year that Coney Island would be open for a few years now) the last free Sunday show at McCarren Park. The promoters seem really upset about it. I couldn't really be bothered to care. Free shows will happen somewhere else I guess. But since this was the last free show, and since the headliner was such a well known band (Yo La Tengo was the headliner. Someone at the show was confused on this point, so I just wanted to spell it out in case anyone was unclear), we (yes, I go to all shows with my girlfriend. Deal with it) were expecting total unmanageable madness. We both aren't fans of large crowded spaces, and this looked like it would be the worst one.

When we arrived, what little optimism I had been feeling evaporated. The line went all the way around the venue. I had my doubts about whether or not we'd get in. But we stuck it out. And in the end it was well worth it. We walked into the venue right when the first band started to play. We quickly made our way to the front and were able to secure a pretty good spot. We didn't know the groups name at the time. Turns out it was the British Soap actress Ebony Thomas AKA Ebony Bones. Thomas was dressed in a pretty ridiculous and colorful outfit (just google her. I won't be able to come up with a better description than that) and wearing eyelash extensions and glitter. She had two backup singers that rarely danced in sync. The band was made up of drums, bass, guitar that was never loud enough and a keyboard/trumpet player in a mask and a hat.

Outlandish outfits aside, the band was pretty tight. And it was hard to find any fault in Thomas or her energetic backup singers. The music was a strange blend of soul and dance punk that wouldn't have worked without such strong vocals. And the band was pretty imaginative too. But what sealed the deal for us was Ebony Bones herself. At one point, she urged the crowd to move to the left and then the right. This attempt to get the overheated crowd to dance fell flat, but what impressed me was how her smile never wavered. There were two British kids towards the front going nuts. Maybe that was enough support. Whatever it was, we were pleasantly surprised by the level of the performance, and I'm kind of disappointed that there no albums for me to buy.

Up next was Titus Andronicus which was for me the main attraction. After catching the final twenty minutes of their set at an outdoor show in July, and falling in love with their debut album The Airing of Grievances (more on this later), I was very eager for the full Titus Andronicus experience. I might have been in the minority on this. Some asshole in the line behind us complained that they were horrible at some show he had seen, and during the set, some underweight hipster asshole behind said, "hurry up asshole."

But like the teenage friend that introduced Titus Andronicus said, those people can "suck it" as far as I'm concerned. I sort of understand where they are coming from: Titus Andronicus are not a "tight" live band (dropped and unplugged microphones are a common occurrence), but anyone who can't get swept away by their energy simply has no soul. And maybe Patrick Stickles stage antics can be a bit much, but I was amused to watch him cut off his beard during a song.

Titus Andronicus was exactly as awesome as I thought they'd be. No less and no more. The set included 3 out of 4 of my favorite album tracks (Fear and Loathing in Mahwah NJ, Joset of Nazareth's Blues, No Future Part 1) and a stirring rendition of "The Enemy is Everywhere" that didn't suffer much from not including the sign with the chorus (it's the same as the title). Patrick Sickles invited his girlfriend on stage to help sing "No Future Part 1", and while we couldn't hear her very well, it was still pretty cute. And of course they closed with "Fear and Loathing in Mahwah NJ", easily the best song of the year.

And that's when we should have left. I know a lot of people who'd be horrified that I went to a Yo La Tengo show for the openers. but there you have it. I've seen them before. I have four of their albums (Painful, And then nothing turned itself inside out, I can hear the heart beating as one and I am not afraid of you and I will beat your ass), and while I find nothing to complain about in their music, I also find very little that's especially engaging. They opened with "Mr. Tough", a song that's perfectly fine for listening to while cleaning the apartment or fixing dinner, but nothing I'd ever be able to devote much attention to. And to be honest, that's how I felt about anything that didn't involve Ira Kaplan freaking out on one of his many guitars. So we got bored and tired and left.

I guess I could get into more detail about why Yo La Tengo fails to move me. I've thought up countless reasons: How they are living proof talent and creativity aren't enough to make great music. How Ira Kaplan's guitar playing may be great but still lacks the effortless beauty of my favorite guitarists (Kawabata Makoto, Alan Sparhawk, Pete Townshend, etc.). How Titus Andronicus' songs move the band and the audience to shout the words while Ira Kaplan seems to be yelling to create energy that simply isn't in his songs.

But maybe I'm just some pretentious hipster who refuses to give them a chance. What do I know? So I'll leave it to my girlfriend who really hadn't heard any of these bands before (she had heard a bit of Titus Andronicus prior to the show, but not that much) and said to me after the show that after hearing so much excitement to Yo La Tengo and finally hearing them, she thought "That's it? Really?"

UPDATE: Apparently Titus Andronicus joined Yo La Tengo to play a Misfits cover at the end of the show. That would have been cool to see. Yo La Tengo's talent and Titus Andronicus' energy would make a great combination.

August 17, 2008-Central Park Summer Stage- Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings

2008-08-18T20:34:00.000-04:00

Did I mention that I don't like free summer shows? At least McCarren Park is close to me. No such luck with the Central Park Summer stage which is all the way in the upper east side. Also, McCarren Park has a nice feature where when the sun sets in the evening, shade slowly creeps from the back. There is no shade at the Central Park Summer Stage. At least there wasn't any this past Sunday when we went up there to see Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.

I deliberately arrived early because of a previous experience where I tried to see Amadou and Mariam and could not even get into the stage because the place was so crowded. Unfortunately, this meant we had to wait through the Menahan Street Band. In a nice air conditioned bar where my girlfriend and I could have shared a drink and sat down, they might not have been so bad. Unfortunately, we were in the overcrowded Summer Stage, trying to save ourselves a spot near the front in the hot sun and not in the mood for an instrumental smooth-jazz/funk group. Except for the Rocky theme (which was still kind of lame), nothing they played was memorable.

It seemed like a solid 70% of the members of the group were also in the Dap Kings. I guess these guys really need Sharon Jones and Bosco Bassman to light a fire under their asses. Because there was nothing boring about Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. Well the warm up part of the show is kind of annoying and goes on about one song too long for me. It was still unquestionably better than the opening act.

And Sharon? She was great as usual. Even if she had been performing this music 40 years ago (and really --Janet Jackson cover aside, the Dap Kings sound like they stopped listening to music sometime shortly after 1970), she never would have been a diva. At 4' 11" with her looks, she just doesn't have the image. Which is a shame since she definitely knows how to use both her voice and her body to full effect. While the Dap Kings remain stationary for most of the show (the horn/woodwind section dances in sync in front of their microphones when they aren't playing), Sharon Jones runs back and forth across the entire stage. Sometimes she's "struts", others she dances like a crazy-woman.

I honestly don't know why this band hasn't recorded and released a live album yet. Given their love for James Brown (the set opened with "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" and "There Was a Time" was played near the end of the set), this seems like an obvious move. Their James Brown covers keep up with the originals. Even their original songs sound infinitely better live than on the album. The albums simply don't capture Sharon Jones' insane level of energy. They recently played a show at the Apollo. Maybe that will be turned into a live album. Or maybe they're worried that no one will buy any more studio albums if they get a live album. It's the only one I want to buy.

Pre-Teen Weaponry by Oneida

2008-08-13T20:21:00.001-04:00

Here it is. Supposedly three years in the making, The New Oneida album. I'd been waiting about 2 years since their last one.

They introduced this song at a show in April, saying "this is our new album. Eat it." What followed was a monster 20-30 minute jam with three distinct parts. All three are replicated on this album. Part one sounds like about five other unrecorded Oneida songs. This isn't a bad thing. Bo Diddley was at his most successful when he recycled that Bo Diddley beat. And Oneida is at their best when they're playing what I will call the Oneida Pulse. This involves Kid Millions laying down a punishing beat on the drums while Bobby plays a steady throbbing bassline on the organ. It's usually left to Jane to help us tell the songs to part (the 2nd guitarist tends to stay somewhere in the background pretty consistently). Sometimes he plays angry (I will Haunt You, Ghost in the Room), sometimes he plays calm (The River...). Unfortunately, on this song, he does neither. Sure, there's a riff in there somewhere, but for the most part, the guitars are just there for the background.

A slow bassline comes in towards the end of the song (actually, it's too close to the middle for my tastes) that slowly winds things down. The last time I saw them play this live, Bobby decided to tear things up on the bass guitar (the bass in question looked like it had been stolen from a metal band). No such luck on the album. The song fades to noise before spilling into part 2. While part 2 doesn't have the same frenzied energy as part 1, it is probably more consistent. Here, the song slows down dramatically and is driven by a slow ominous bassline. The guitars finally pickup, and we even get some singing. Just don't ask me what they're (they being Jane, but you'll never be able to figure out who's singing on any of their albums), singing. While less visionary (it conjures heavy 70s stoner metal), this part is still a fun ride....and then we get noise leading us to...

Part 3 is a giant downer, live and on the album. This is where Oneida indulges their worst noodling tendencies. Basically, the band just plays until they get bored and quit. They never really develop any sort of melody worth following. And every time it sounds like they're about to really let loose, they stop. A few minutes from the end, Jane checks out almost entirely whenever they play it live. Unfortunately, Bobby and Millions can amuse each other long after everyone else has gotten bored and gone home. That being said, part 3 comes closer to success on the album than it does live.

I realize this sounds like a pretty mediocre review. And maybe it is. I know this band is capable of so much more both live and in the studio. That being said, I still haven't grown tired of this album more than a week after purchasing it, and if they open their next show with Pre-Teen Weaponry like they have the past two times, I'll be right up front dancing the entire time. It's fucking Oneida. How could I complain?

All three are replicated on the album.
It's just one long three-part song. Each part is somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes long. Part one should be the most exciting. This is the throbbing jam that has become a trademark of their live shows. Not this one necessarily. They have about five songs that follow this formula. Bobby plays a solid bassline on his organ, Kid Millions lays down an amazing propulsive beat and Jane and the other guitarist lay on the noise or killer riffs. Only this one lacks the riffs. Instead, everything is buried under noise. Not that that's a bad thing.

August 3, 2008, McCarren Park, King Kahn, Deerhunter and Black Lips

2008-08-13T20:17:00.000-04:00

I arrived too late to see the Tall Firs. I’ve never heard them, so I really don’t know if I missed anything. I was only interested in seeing King Kahn and The Black Lips. Unfortunately Deerhunter was sandwiched between the two acts. The other time I had seen Deerhunter I remembered it as a perfectly pleasant experience. However, since then, I’ve found their album utterly boring and their lead singer extremely obnoxious and pretentious in interviews. He seems to suffer from the gay and never had sex-chip-on-the-shoulder complex. Being horribly ugly (sorry dude) because of a medical condition, has also left him somewhat bitter about his lack of sex life. At least that’s how he seemed to me.

But I had heard good things about King Kahn, and my memory of The Black Lips at Siren last year was mostly positive despite being so far away that their music became some weird psychedelic rock experiment. So I was somewhat excited at the prospect of being able to fully experience both bands live for free.

Well almost fully. We arrived what seemed like a few songs into King Kahn’s set. This judgment was made based on how much time he spent on stage. Based on the energy he showed, I felt like we had arrived towards the end of the set. Despite about 20 seconds where he did a pretty cool dance that involved falling back on his hands and kicking his feet out, he didn’t really move around that much.

What he did was yell at people and throw stuff. And by stuff, I mean rotten bananas. It was kind of gross, and it didn’t endear him to my girlfriend who isn’t much of a fan of litter. She also had a problem with him yelling “motherfucker” at people in between songs since we were at a park and parents with their children were nearby. I don’t share her opinion, but his behavior did speak to a larger problem: he seemed to think he was a star in the league of James Brown and Mick Jagger, but musically, he was no James Brown or Rolling Stones. Even his stage presence was weak. He simply didn’t have any energy except when he was yelling at people and throwing things.

I was pretty much ready to go home by the time they were done. I didn’t think I could take being irritated by another band while waiting for the Black Lips. Fortunately though, Deerhunter gave a subdued but strong performance. Bradford Cox wasn’t even in drag. Instead, he introduced the band’s new (female) cheerleader-uniform clad guitarist, saying “she wears the dress now” or something like that. Other than that, Deerhunter were the dose of normalcy and calm that I desperately needed at this point.

The band played a disciplined set that featured very few breaks for audience banter. I don’t think they were anything remarkable, but something about their relaxed and positive energy that was the perfect antidote to King Kahn. The drummer looked calm and determined (and very young) throughout the set, the bassist and male guitarist seemed to have small quiet smiles on their faces the whole time, and the new guitarist was extraordinarily mellow for a cheerleader –the only exception being at the end of their set when she did cartwheels and flashed her bandmates (she was wearing shorts underneath).

Bradford Cox is still a surprising frontman. The last time I had seen Deerhunter, he layered his vocals in effects and did not play guitar. This time, the vocals were clean, and he appeared to be shouldering lead guitar duties. The transition served him well. For someone as awkward looking as him, he is wonderfully relaxed and confident on stage. At one point, he For the finale, he took his vocal microphone and placed it next to his guitar amp, unleashing a blanket of noise that almost smothered the rest of the instruments. But the band kept playing, taking their time before giving up the stage. Sure it was excessively loud, but I found the finale relaxing and pleasant.

These feelings were gone almost as soon as The Black Lips started to play. I had no complaints about the band. Just the fans. Maybe I’m getting old, but all the pushing and jumping around just got on my nerves. Which was a shame, because they would have been a fun band to dance to. For the first time I found myself moving progressively further backwards of my own free will while listening to a band I liked. Once we reached the shade, the show was a lot more enjoyable. We also had more room and were spared the craziness.

I’ll be seeing one last show (maybe) at McCarren Park before they shut it down for good. They’re going to remodel the park and actually fill the pool with water in the summer. I guess a lot of people aren’t happy about that, but after standing there all day in the hot sun (there’s no shade until 6pm when the sun starts to set. And to reach it, you have to move towards the rear), I wanted nothing more than to be immersed in water. I had to settle for a shower.