karma karma karma

So I've had a pretty busted up week trying to get into shows. I meant to see Cassettes Won't Listen at Sin-e (make sure you get to Sin-e before it closes for good on April 2!) on Saturday, but due to a series of unfortunate events, I didn't get down there in time. I was pissed because The Diggs were also on that bill and man what a dream billing...gotta love those guys. THEN I also missed The Roots at Nokia on Sunday. Monday, M$ and I were shut down at Union Hall for the Loney, Dear show. Tuesday I got the total smackdown for The Pipettes and Amy Winehouse show. I had a comp ticket from my job set up about a month ago and due to drama, I came in on Tuesday to find my ticket had been yanked out from under my nose. So I decided to stand by and see if my colleague could score an extra ticket for me. NO DICE. So... I got pretty drunk at a wine bar in Nolita.

My luck all took a turn for the better last night when I scored a free last-minute seat to The Shins at Theatre at MSG. Damn, were they good. Thumbs up to the soundboard dudes. The balance was pretty perfect. At the beginning there was a bit of feedback from the bass, but the rest of the night was smooth sailing. No matter how good the act, something about the sound at TMSG is really funky. It sounds like things are muffled, you know? Like the bands are playing with a pillow smushed over them. Is it just me?

They opened with Sleeping Lessons, Australia (I think? Can't remember.) and then the great single Phantom Limb (which I sing everyday when I'm walking to the train in the mornings. I love the oooooooooooooooooooo way ooooooooooooo, ooooooooooooooo ooooooooo part). Of course they delivered greatest hits like Kissing the Lipless, Young Pilgrims, and New Slang.

More pics soon to come. Sorry guys! I forgot to bring my camera so I'm awaitin for my friend's buddy to upload his pics. In the meantime, enjoy the view here.

I'm going to see Mana at MSG tonight and I don't know what to expect. Should be fun, I hope!

Got lots of new stuff. Been real lazy on the posting scene, but I hope that all changes today!

First off, this is probably old news for a lot of you, but I'm so excited about it that I must say something! The always amazing Stars are re-leasing their Set Yourself on Fire album with each track re-mixed by a different band. I've been able to get 3 singles off it and they are delicious!

Take a listen, I promise you won't regret it:

Ageless Beauty by Most Serene Republic.

Sleep Tonight by Junior Boys.

First Five Times by Russian Futurists. (This is my least favorite. I give the Russian Futurists mad props for re-realizing this track in a completely different tone, but I just don't think it works within the original premises of the song. But...maybe that's the point.)

The album's track listing is as follows:

your ex-lover is dead (final fantasy)
set yourself on fire (montag)
ageless beauty (the most serene republic)
reunion (jason collett)
the big fight (minotaur shock)
what i'm trying to say pt. 1 (the dears)
what i'm trying to say pt. 2 (the dears)
one more night (apostle of hustle)
sleep tonight (junior boys)
the first five times (the russian futurists)
he lied about death (metric)
celebration guns (camouflage nights with kevin drew)
soft revolution (the stills)
calendar girl (young galaxy)

Damn...it's gonna be so good.

My favorite Stars remix is done by Most Serene Republic, a band that's also signed to the Arts & Crafts label. Since their work on the Ageless Beauty single was so good, I decided to check out their album and have grown quite fond of it. This collection of songs no doubt takes a couple listens to get a good grasp on the material. My ears felt like a jumble of sound had descended into them, but after a few tries I've really grow to love them. I highly recommend. They remind me of the sound that's coming out of Chicago right now (Bound Stems, Chin Up Chin Up)

In other news, these are some bands I've been listening to:

Young Galaxy

I've only listened to 3 tracks off the EP, but they're fantastic. I have "Swing Your Heartache" on repeat. Man, another great band out of Canada. Must be something in the water, eh?

They'll be at Mercury Lounge on April 14th and 15th--get your tix now!

The Rosebuds

I'm probably a little late on this, but I just discovered this band from my hometown, Raleigh, NC! They are a showcasing artist at SXSW, so if you're in Austin go check 'em out!

The Bears

Really fun, poppy music. They make me smile. Their new EP is coming out April 3 and you can stream 2 of the new tracks here.


Totally diggin' on this Mark Ronson remix of Lily Allen's "Smile" that features Dujeous of Brooklyn (you can also check Dujeous out at South By this week).

Ok...I'm out of time for now as I have to run over and see some stupid show in since its doing previews right now. More to come!

Marissa Nadler, El Perro Del Mar played Bowery Ballroom

Last Thursday night, Chris Garneau and Marissa Nadler opened for El Perro Del Mar at Bowery Ballroom.

The pics aren't fantastic as I got there sorta late and thus got a bad spot. Also, I'm short. We missed Chris' entire set, but caught most of Marissa. She's got a really fantastic, unique voice but she definitely needs to work on her stage presence. The crowd was being mega-rude and talked through the majority of her set (my biggest pet peeve). I wonder if this was the biggest venue she's played before. I would really like to see her at the Living Room or Joe's Pub. That said, her voice is amazing. Silvia gave me goosebumps.

El Perro Del Mar was charming and played a pretty terrific (but short) set. 3 swedish dudes (keys, bass, guitar) backed up her vox and guitar. Can't wait for her to come back, yo.

Chin Up, Boris Yeltsin!

From M$:
Last night at Mercury Lounge, I saw Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin open up for Chin Up Chin Up.

SSLYBY:

Their set opened up with four great songs, starting with "Oregon Girl," which rocked. The lead singer told the crowd that he was sick, so we all forgave him for his out of tune vocals. "Pangea" was really one of the highlights, but before they played their fifth song, the band switched instruments: the bass player became the drummer, the lead singer/guitarist because the bass player and the drummer became the singer/guitarist. Somewhere during that switch the bass and guitar went out of tune, and the band didn't bother to fix it. Somewhere during that switch, the band kind of fell apart.





Their next few songs were messy and the band just didn't seem to get it together. But by the last two songs in their set, they had pulled it together again. They knew that it wasn't their best set ever, but they still tried to have fun with it, jumping all around stage. Overall, it could have been better, but I wouldn't completely write them off.

Chin Up Chin Up:

I really feel that Chin Up Chin Up played a solid set last night.

Set-list below:

Maybe it was because they didn't go on until almost 11PM, or maybe they were just tired, but I thought the only drawback last night was that the band lacked the energy that I expected. The guitarist was really amazing though, working a million pedals and just hitting everything on point. I couldn't hear the vocals very well from where I was standing, but the drumming was solid and so was the bass playing and the guy on the keys.





Chin Up Chin Up played a good set, and I have no doubt they that are good musicians so I would definitely see them again. And as for SSLYBY, the jury's still out on them...

From S-Yo:

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

Members:
Will – lead singer/guitar
Jonathan James – bass/drummer
John Robert Cardwell – singer/guitar
Philip Dickey – singer/drummer/guitar

The set opened up strong with four solid songs in a row, including

What’ll We Do
Oregon Girl
I Am Warm and Powerful
Pangea

The lead vocalist was sick and losing his voice, but that didn’t stop him from delivering some nicely tailored phrases and sweet melodic lines.

But…what happened next was catastrophic to their performance. The drummer switched to vocals/guitar and the bassist switched over to drums. I’m not sure what went down, but all of sudden the vocalists’ tuning really whacked out. I can’t remember it if was just one or both or what? But…something was definitely not right and not good and they couldn’t really capture the sounds they brought on earlier in the night.

In between songs they were very charismatic and obviously grateful to hit the road with Chin Up Chin Up; Phillip, their drummer/guitarist/vocalist, said: “We’re so happy to be here with Chin Up Chin Up, who are way more popular and better than we are. If they didn’t invite us along, we’d all be sitting in Will’s basement watching TV in Missouri.”

I still love this band, even if the tuning was an issue. They are young and have a lot of time, but obviously this is a problem they need to address ASAP! SSLYBY has everything working in their favor: good songwriting skills, tight ensemble playing, and a wonderful, captivating stage presence. Once they get the tuning kinks worked out, I think I will love them even more.

…
Chin Up Chin Up

Members:
Jeremy Bolen – lead vocals/guitar
Nathan Snydacker - guitar
Greg Sharp – keys
Chris Dye – drums
Jessee Woghim – bass

I was sad they didn’t really play many songs from the first album, We Should’ve Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers, which are the only works I know pretty well. (My fault for not getting This Harness Can’t Ride Anything beforehand) I couldn’t decipher if it was my fatigue or the band’s, but halfway through the performance lost a lot of energy; however, "Virginia, Don’t Drown" proved that when they are on, Chin Up Chin Up can truly deliver the high-energy, poppy sounds their albums promise. (Also, I should say I didn’t know most of the other songs. So perhaps it’s not really fair for me to comment on the delivery.)


I had difficulties hearing the vocals over the rich jungle of instrumentation; perhaps the balance was off-kilter or I was just standing too close to the house left speaker. I really wanted to hear Jeremy Bolen’s voice, which many critics describe as annoying at times, but I left not knowing for certain if I liked it or not (For now, I’m leaning towards the former).

That said, I really dig on this band. I’m not really sure what’s happening in Chicago, but I am loving the sound generated from this town. Chin Up Chin Up (and The Bound Stems) encompass a light, carefree attitude that permeates each song. Sometimes this serves as a foil for much darker lyrics and thus creates some very interesting songs.

I’d love to see CUCU again when I’m less sleepy and more well-versed in their catalogue. There’s so much potential for a truly amazing show.

this sunday night...

...come to hip hop karaoke at the knitting factory!

s-yo

happy fridayyyyyyyyy

No. 49, No. 50: Welcome to Arcade Fire

50 tickets were sold at the door for Arcade Fire's second sold-out show at Judson Memorial Church last night.

We waited in line for two hours, envious of everyone that had been lucky enough to buy their tickets online or get on the guest list. The security guards kept going down the line and telling everyone to leave, that there was no chance of getting in beyond a certain point. Luckily we were always right before or behind that certain point, so no scare tactics were going to work on us. We were going to wait in that line until they let the last person in and closed those doors. And thank god we did, because we were one of the last people that they let in.

When we walked into the Church, it was clear that it was going to be an amazing show. They might have been at capacity, but there was so much room for everyone to stand and move and sway. I had always felt that I just didn't get Arcade Fire. I enjoyed Funeral and really like Neon Bible, but I didn't feel like I was in the Arcade Fire club. There was something that everyone else knew that I didn't, and I finally got to experience it for myself last night.

From the moment that they got on stage, I was mesmerized. They started off with "No Cars Go," then went on to play "Black Mirror," "Haiti" and "Keep the Car Running." One of the highlights for me was definitely "My Body Is A Cage," which Win dedicated to Regine (since it was Valetine's Day...Aw). That song was particularly amazing because of the slow build-up, each addition making the song more powerful until the whole band was playing and it seemed like the room was going to explode. They ended with "Rebellion" and "Intervention," which got the whole crowd going wild. Win kept telling the crowd to make more noise. "Scream something. Anything. Boo. Boo like it's Ashlee Simpson at the Rose Bowl. Scream Charlie. Whatever." So by the time the set ended, the entire audience was screaming . Which now reminds me that Win dedicated "(Antichrist Television Blues)" to Joe Simpson by saying "Joe Simpson, To you we pray..."

Anyway, Arcade Fire definitely earned themselves a new convert last night.

Listen to Neon Bible and go see them. It will be amazing.

Cross-posted at Skank Your Art.