Tokyo Police Club, as you all well know, are playing a Myspace-sponsored free show at everyone's favorite B-more rock venue, the Talking Head Club.
Odds are good this is going to be the smallest venue these kids will play for a long time. Take advantage and get in line early. Doors @ 8PM and admission first-come, first-serve.
Continuing the theme of free goodies, here's 3 tracks I've collected for you. Get pumped, see you at the show.
Tokyo Police Club - In A Cave
Tokyo Police Club - Graves (Daytrotter Session)
Tokyo Police Club - Nature of the Experiment (live on Dinner With the Band)
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Saturday, April 26, 2008
Tokyo Police Club - Free is good...
Friday, April 25, 2008
Imperial China, Double Dagger, Zulu Pearls @ RnR Hotel
This is coming a few days late and will probably be a lot too short. But hey, take these pills of MP3 forgiveness and read on, intrepid music fan.
All photos: Beau Finley
Zulu Pearls - If It's All the Same
Double Dagger - Luxury Condos for the Poor
Double Dagger - Camera Chimera
This show had great potential. Musically, I thought for the most part the artists kept up their end of the bargain. Double Dagger and Imperial China killed it. Zulu Pearls, not so much, but they were earnest, I will give them that. But come on DC; you had 3 (4, but I missed B&W Jacksons) prime and distinct sounds to get down to and you mostly failed.
Imperial China, this being their CD release, did get the most people moving. But Double Dagger's performance was pure electricity. But let's start from the beginning (well, mine)...Zulu Pearls.
Mostly innocuous, described by one show-farer as an approximation of Interpol (an accurate picture live). But I'd wager without the charisma and ability to channel moods. I appreciate their energy, but for me the music was largely unremarkable and the showmanship a bit forced. There is potential, as evidenced from some solid recorded material, but a lot of refinement to go before it is realized live. The most distracting part of the performance was the lead singer, whose antics amounted to some inebriated stumbling around and emoting; it even seemed to irritate fellow band members, notably the guitarist who I thought was going to rip his jugular out with his teeth by set's end.
Double Dagger followed and represented Baltimore in perfect fashion. The effectiveness of the minimalist 3-part(bass, vocals, drums) approach to their music cannot be overemphasized. They generate a punk and post-hardcore firestorm truly living up to and expanding upon the legacy of the ever-present genre influence, Fugazi. Bruce's bass work was a frenzied, near-virtuosic technical display organically fusing the twitchy and up-tempo approach of punk with the more exploratory tendencies of any of the sub-sects of jazz. Unfortunately, Nolen's highly interactive, classic punk approach to showmanship was not well-received by many in the crowd. I can't count the number of people who commented they found it "creepy" or that he needed to back off.
I couldn't disagree more. I truly believe that if you insist on maintaining this fourth wall between performer and spectator, you are not experiencing the performance to its fullest. You should be welcoming this amount of interaction. And here lies the big difference between DC and Baltimore crowds. People wouldn't think twice about this in Baltimore, welcoming the chance to melt the experiences of performer and audience into one big, joyous mess; self-consciousness be damned. Fuck the person next to you, if you dig it, show some love and freak the fuck out. Thankfully the front few rows of the crowd seemed to be receptive, so my experience wasn't ruined. Standouts from the set were the obvious, perennial favorite "Luxury Condos" and "No Allies."
Imperial China bounded to the stage and immediately started pounding into the first track ("There is no translation") off their, frankly, fantastic EP Methods. This being a CD release show, I will be making their evaluation a combination of EP review and show review.
For such a young band, formed only in fall 2007, they have a mature and developed sound as well as phenomenal live presence that is polished yet infused with that about-to-careen-off-the-rails energy and spontaneity necessary for a killer live show. The speak-shout vocals are a great topping, but their songs would work perfectly as instrumentals. They channel tasteful and expansive prog in many instrumental sections of their songs. Here, they wring some truly spectacular sounds out of their poor, unsuspecting instruments.
Watching this process unfold is engrossing: bassist Brian Porter twitches and pulsates, possessed with intensity, funneling it all into his frantic bass and vocals, guitarist Matt Johnson calmly yet intently picking a fiery guitar riff and Patrick Gough flailing away at drums, it just swallows you whole. They exchange times, styles and techniques of post-rock, post-punk, experimental noise and electronic, math-rock and a dozen other genres as fluidly as a banker exchanges currencies.
For primary evidence, you need look no farther than their always enthralling performance of instrumental track "Radhus," where Porter and Johnson pull double-duty on keys/synths and drums, respectively; Johnson and Gough both madly going at it on the drums is an invigorating scene. The track is perfectly paced and layered with at least a dozen interesting musical voices and associated hooks. The establishment of the early drum cadence undergirded by a body-shaking low-range synth groove that belongs in some deep house or electro track, works you into a frenzy that is then carried by an extended passage of sharp and crunchy guitar work. The intensity then begins to break down as the guitar enters into a more sparse, post-punk punctuated style followed by the closing sequence of synth breakdown. As far as musical rollercoasters go, you can't ask for much more.
The head-to-head of Double Dagger followed by Imperial China was one of the best-paired match-ups I've seen in recent memory. They are of a similar temperament, both musically and in performance approach, delivering captivating, rapid-fire sets with little breathing room and showing a truck-load of musical chops. DD may be a bit more intense and interactive, but they've been around the block a few times. I predict Imperial China will be there soon enough, completely demolishing the energy-sapping fourth wall right beside Nolen and the rest of DD; hell, they are halfway there on music alone.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Tokyo Police Club - Myspace free show this Sunday
Finally, B-more getting some love from all over. First Spin last year, now name-drops in 2008 Rolling Stone, Blender, XLR8R. Now, Fox-syndicated giant social network Myspace joins the fray for their second Baltimore-based free show.
Tokyo Police Club @ the Head. This Sunday.
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Tuesday, April 22, 2008
3-for-Tuesday - Spring into action
Some tracks sitting in my inbox, figured I'd proliferate them. For all to enjoy or rag on. Opinions?
Though the track never fully releases its joyous tension, Lykke Li's "Dance Dance Dance" is probably the best of the trio (her vocals kind of make me squishy inside and the sax solo just screams endearing exuberance), followed by the Forms. The Forms track has that distasteful modern rock radio edge to it that I find leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, yet it still manages to intrigue me to no end. The Annuals track is a little too over the top, trying to be "that track" a la the Shins or Coldplay.
Annuals - Sore
The Forms - Red Gun
Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance
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Monday, April 21, 2008
Autechre-"Quaristice" album review
While reading, enjoy these Autechre tracks, "Flutter" from Anti EP and the others from Quaristice. If you like what you hear and read, support the artist and pick up their material.
Autechre - Flutter
Autechre - Simmm
Autechre - Notwo
When Kandinsky developed abstract art he looked toward music, and intense aural experiences. The result was totally organic expressions of form and color, paintings with no reference to a figurative world. In a similar way Autechre’s music has always been about total abstraction, about pure sensory experience.
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I’m a little late on this Autechre review, but with their recent show at the Black Cat, the album write-up should still be relevant.
Autechre’s music isn’t meant to have widespread appeal; it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. This may seem axiomatic, but it’s worth stressing that this is intentionally esoteric music.
When I first heard Autechre many years ago, the experience galvanized my ideals and understanding of beauty. I was young, and had never heard anything in my life quite like the sounds I was hearing. Now being older, and a lot more familiar with music, I miss that sense of astounding discovery. However, I find Autechre’s work so powerful simply because it still sounds so unfamiliar. Though in a weird dialectic twist Autechre’s sound isn’t that new. They overtly reference electro, a style now a quarter century old, if not always sonically, then in their detached sterile aesthetic. The whole digital stuttering effect found in similar glitch/IDM has been around for some time too. But Quaristice still sounds like Sean Booth and Rob Brown are on the cutting edge of music.
When Kandinsky developed abstract art he looked toward music, and intense aural experiences. The result was totally organic expressions of form and color, paintings with no reference to a figurative world. In a similar way Autechre’s music has always been about total abstraction, about pure sensory experience. Autechre reached the point of complete abstraction and seeming chaos with their prior album Untitled. Quaristice is a slight return to a more familiar soundscape. The album is at some points melodic. Unlike the normal Autechre format of a few long tracks that stand on their own, this album is filled with many shorter tracks that not only fit tightly with the following track (Autechre has done this to a lesser degree before), but also seem to fit into a whole cohesive unit. I might even go as far as calling it a narrative structure. A narrative to an Autechre album? Well about as close as I suspect they will ever come. Again to draw the Kandinsky parallel—his abstract paintings aren’t telling a story, but people unavoidably find themselves looking for narratives in his work. The human mind seems to be hardwired that way.
The opener “Altibzz” is a beat less, airy synth piece. The track isn’t a standout, and its only function seems to be in setting up the following track “The PLc.” That track opens with an electro beat, then a lonely wobbly synth moans out. That synth line is classic Autechre, and a highlight of the album for me. Unfortunately the track quickly moves away from that idea and doesn’t look back.
“Simmm” sounds as if Warp label mate Richard James could have made it. Though I think of Apex Twin’s music as retaining some reference to nature, while Autechre brings to mind an alien world driven by technology.
“Paralel Suns” as the name would suggest, conjures up images of a dying world orbiting a red giant star…or something like that. The track has no beat, just haunting synth pads.
For me Quaristice really picks up in its second half. “Fol3” sounds like Autechre’s take on ironic 8-bit video game electro. Could it even be a joke by the duo? The next track “90101-51-1” stays in that electro frame of mind with a deep kick and driving snare. Then a squelchy acid bass and 16th note hi-hats. Though the track clearly follows the well-trod Warp conventions of acid electro, in the hands of Autechre it doesn’t sound trite. Shakespeare didn’t invent the sonnet, but nobody is calling him unoriginal.
The album closes with two ambient pieces. I could envision the penultimate track “Notwo” having served as background music to an X-Files episode. The track is fraught with tangible fear and dread. This is something unusual for Autechre, a group not given to expressive emotional output. The coda “Outh9X” is a true ambient piece, in that it is all about sonic texture, and not melody. It is a quite and understated closing.
Quarisrice is not Autechre at its full potential, but with a group commanding as much talent as Booth and Brown have, the album is still a very strong effort. It was a return to a more classic Autechre sound, and this is a group not known for taking steps backward. But again, paradoxically, this doesn’t sound like a Mid-Nineties Autechre redux, though in many ways it is. Even when Autechre is doing something old, they make it sound so shockingly alien.
Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique and the BSO
As a brass and tuba player, it is hard to find composers that really know how to utilize your instrument in a dynamic way that sounds great and feels great to play. I present to you, Hector Berlioz (pictured right). French composer whose pieces Symphonie fantastique and Damnation of Faust are an absolute joy to play and hear performed.
Berlioz had a great knack for composing expressive bass lines and arranging for powerful brass instrumentation.
The fourth movement is a propulsive march with a progressively more turbulent, unstable feel due to abrupt changes between passages, juxtaposing extreme dynamics and opposing string and brass lines in its final minute. Its melodies are longer, more drawn out phrases than typically seen, but consistent with the big sweep-and-swell motif established from the start of the first movement and really giving the march a more epic feel. Whet your appetite with this performance of the fourth movement by Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic, recorded for Deutsch Grammophon.
Hector Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique - IV. Marche au Supplice (March to the Scaffold)
Marin Alsop and the BSO tackle Symphonie Fantastique as well as Prokofiev's first piano concerto, featuring 20-year-old rising star Yuja Wang (Wiki) on piano. Performances at the Meyerhoff April 25-27, opening April 24 at the Strathmore in Bethesda. Tickets start at a low $15. Highly recommended.
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Sunday, April 20, 2008
My Morning Jacket leaks new track
Toned down on the psych-reverb, amped up on the country rock and R&B vocals, My Morning Jacket look to further cement their status as one of America's best rock acts, always evolving and always interesting. This is one of my most hotly anticipated albums of the year. Their previous LP Z was nothing short of glorious, with one of the best opening track sequences in recent memory.
Evil Urges drops on 6/10.
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
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