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.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Imperial China, Double Dagger, Zulu Pearls @ RnR Hotel
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.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Album Review - Colin Meloy Sings Live!, Preview @ 9:30 Club
Approach this preview and album review with caution, it is highly-tainted by personal bias. Let me explain.
I have seen the Decemberists (Wiki) at least 6 times that I can count (I have probably only seen the Pietasters (Wiki) more, somewhere around 12 times).
I have played their albums into the grave.
Their concert with the BSO (Wiki) last summer sprinted into my top five concert moments of all time, at #2 right behind Rage Against the Machine/STP in the pouring rain of an HFStival which is in the top spot. Even if Jeff Magnum and Neutral Milk Hotel continued doing their thing, I still think that I would pick Colin Meloy as the better song-writer.
Now that we're through the disclosure segment, let's get to the album after the jump.
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This is Meloy's 3rd solo album, and his first of original material (the previous two EPs were covers of Morrissey and Shirley Collins). Moving beyond the obvious predilection of Decemberists material to tales of nautical adventure, romance and revenge, Meloy's merit as a solo artist lies in his massive abilities as a gifted lyricist, songwriter, musician and ultimately, performer. The man knows how to construct a song that draws upon the strings of both your mind and your heart, apart from whatever period or setting the narrative is set in.
However, this album starts off unremarkable. The first track, "Devil's Elbow," is a relic from Meloy's pre-Decemberists project, Tarkio and hardly represents the apex of Meloy's abilities as a musician or song-writer. The performance captured for the second track, "We both go down together" off of Picaresque, is flat and relatively uninspired. No real vocal flourishes, just a straight delivery. A far cry from the power of the last performance I saw with the Baltimore Symphony.
Then, a one-two punch of two Decemberists songs that were tailor-made for Meloy's solo acoustic treatment: "The Gymnast, High Above the Ground" and "Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect" Both songs soar to life, bringing a new sense of vulnerability that is unreachable with a full Decemberists' arrangements. The nimble, swirling ebb and flow of the constantly moving guitar-line hypnotizes in "Gymnast" while "Architect" showcases Meloy's vocals and his creative muscle. He seamlessly rearranges the vocals into Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" without changing the underlying guitar chords from "Architect."
Two unreleased tracks follow. The first is "Dracula's Daughter," a pseudo-track where Meloy self-deprecatingly sings snippets from and describes "the worst song I've ever written." This paints a perfect picture of Meloy's charm as a performer, and his disarming boyish humor. The second, "Wonder," is a rarity in Meloy's catalogue, and a pleasure. A song about his at-the-time expected newborn child. It is entirely hopefilled with no dark edges proves he can exalt happiness as much as starcross'd and ill-fated love and destiny.
"Barbara Allen" is a track previously found on Meloy's EP covering Shirley Collins. He channels some true power and it has been noted before that he seems to be a kindred spirit with Collins, both sharing affinity for folk music and themes. Narrative lyrics and heavy-on-folk song structure continues into "Engine Driver" and through the rest of the album, which features admirable performances of most major Decemberists song compatible with the solo acoustic format. This includes "A Cautionary Tale," "The Bachelor and the Bride" as well as a gorgeous rendition of "Bandit Queen."
"California One" and "Red Right Ankle" stand out as emblematic of the level of performances that should have been on the album for every track. Iconic and powerful, showcasing Meloy's talents at full throttle. But I can tell you I've heard "We both go down together" performed much more effectively by the Decemberists. The version on this album falls very flat.
Despite the varying quality of performance, and more prominently tone, on each track, the overall quality is quite high. The biggest detraction to this album is it's construction and tracking, both of which contribute to a disjointed and forced feeling since the album is essentially a gestalt, with tracks being culled from multiple performances. Doing this, you would have anticipated the best of the best takes; unfortunately this is not always the case.
The only other major weakness is the dialog tracks. While they are relevant and at times entertaining, they can make things really seem forced. It is clear they are used as a stop-gap, trying to recreate the continuity of an album recorded at a single live show, and failing.
Though the album is a strong showcase of Meloy's work from his entire career in a live setting very different from the Decemberists, it is by no means a definitive archive of his best performances. A must-buy for Meloy and Decemberists fans. But the less-than-devout should give it a few spins before making the jump.
Overall State: 7 / 10
Track Listing
01 Devil's Elbow
02 We Both Go Down Together
03 Evoking a Campfire Singalong (banter)
04 The Gymnast, High Above the Ground
05 Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect/Dreams
06 Dracula's Daughter
07 Wonder
08 A Brief Introduction to Shirley Collins (banter)
09 Barbara Allen
10 The Engine Driver
11 On the Bus Mall
12 A Skull, a Ship, and a Sheep (banter)
13 California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade/Ask
14 The Bachelor and the Bride
15 A Cautionary Song
16 Red Right Ankle
17 Bandit Queen
Pre-order the LP Colin Meloy Sings Live! here at buyolympia.com. Album drops on April 8th. But really, you shouldn't settle just for live Meloy on CD. Colin rolls his one-man show through DC, stopping at the 9:30 on Sunday April 13th with Laura Gibson. Tickets are $28 and I heartily recommend it. You shant be disappointed.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Album Review: Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
OK kids, get your giggles out. Yes, this duo from the UK, comprised of one Andrew Hung and one Benjamin John Power, is called Fuck Buttons (Wiki). Ludicrous name. But to the matter at hand. This week, a copy of their debut full-length called "Street Horrrsing" dropped in my mailbox and I popped it in for a listen.
If you aren't ready to be immersed and engulfed by sound, or despise repetition and noise, please turn this review off now.
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For those of you who stuck around, Fuck Buttons' debut album is 50 minutes of experimental aural immersion. It's like watching the sunrise at the end of the world perched on a precipice in some exotic mountain-range...or just running around the city on little-to-no sleep.
Their music combines abrasive and aggressive elements (muted-screech-and-scream vocals, driving tribal percussion) with the mesmerizing and soothing elements of looped synths or fuzzed-out static noise and drone. Often the effect is an odd, serene beauty laden with tension and dark undertones, as if a steady dirge in anticipation of the death of some unknown aspect of humanity.
Described as electro-psych-drone, Fuck Buttons deliver tracks that are well-metered and absolutely mesmerizing. But this is not music for the impatient. There are only 6 tracks on the album, with 5 clocking in at-or-above 8 minutes in length. Not so easily digested, the tracks individually don't necessarily blow you away. But when you sit and listen to the album in its entirety, the effect is profound.
The twinkling keys that begin the album on lead track "Sweet Love for Planet Earth" are a gentle, innocent introduction into Fuck Buttons' dystopic album and world. Their patent drone enters aligned with the keys, but eventually taking it over as the lead musical voice (one of their most effective techniques, blending drone). Wailing vocals lend a sense of turmoil beneath the swirling mix of drone and keys.
The simplest, shortest track "Ribs Out" is one of the most haunting I've heard in ages. It recalls some demonic ritual in the depths of an unknown rainforest with reverbing primal yelps and screams set upon a tribal beat that sounds like chattering bones are being used for drum sticks.
The much previewed and lauded first single "Bright Tomorrow" presents probably the most uplifting moments thanks to the bright keyboard line and major key drone that enters near the 3 minute mark. But eventually the track turns to a darker, more crushing drone that provides a perfect leads into the final track, "Colours Move." My personal favorite, this final track absolutely soars and destroys. The couplet of the last two tracks reminds me very much of Danny Boyle's 2007 film Sunshine, where a group of astronauts 50 years in the future attempts to re-ignite our dying sun.
And I couldn't think of a more appropriate parallel; Fuck Buttons very well may reignite the power of experimental and noise music for many and stand as a shining example of its versatility and viability. Fuck Buttons open for fellow noise-nik Caribou (Wiki) on March 21st when they hit Rock and Roll Hotel in DC. Their debut LP, Street Horrrsing drops in the States on March 18th.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The Death Set - "Worldwide" album review
The Death Set are about to make Baltimore's next major foray into the happy areas of indie minds everywhere with their release of their debut LP Worldwide (after 3 EP releases).
If you've ever wished for an ass-load more drum machine or laptop-sourced glitchiness with your punk music...you need to be into this band. Originally hailing from the Gold Coast, Australia, Johnny Siera and Beau Velasco hoofed it to our shores a few years ago, landing first in Brooklyn, then high-tailing it to our fair, charming city and buddying up with Wham City, Dan Deacon and their ilk while residing and recording in the Copy Cat.
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Fitting since their material is exactly what you'd expect out of the wacky collective.
The Death Set have a sound similar to many of their glitch-pop peers like Dan Deacon, bleep-blooping their way into your pants. But the punk edge they give their music really sets it apart, giving it a whole other level of energy and purpose. Their specialty is injecting deceptively simple, catchy melodies with ample amounts of distortion, digitization and adrenaline (or maybe coke) and just going with it.
And boy does it work.
After a disposable, short intro track, the album opens with two of the Deathset's strongest tracks. "Listen to Collision" delivers a frenzied laptop synth beat that gets the blood flowing, while "Negative Thinking" lays down ridiculously simple-yet-catchy guitar/bass work over top of a gently walking MIDI keyboard line. Vocals on both tracks feel like an entire room shouting in one synchronized, joyous freakout. The tracks ooze positive vibes and a sense of uplifting hope and community. And isn't that all a dance-crazed punk kid needs in this day and age?
"Around the World" is an excellent showcase that the band doesn't need to turn tempo and volume up to 11 in order to be effective. Tracks "Peak Oil" and "Day in the Wife" veer over into some slightly asymmetrical, thrash/post-punk that are just as catchy and crazed as their glitch-punk.
The band can falter when it tries to go for a more pure sound, like on the relatively straight-ahead punk tracks "Heard it all before" (boring punk song, or boring Mega Man level soundtrack, I can't really decide) and "Cold Teeth" (the only thing that sort of saves this song is the strangely appealing, wailing, childlike, wordless chorus).
Their club-influenced instrumental tracks, while competent, serve mainly as filler that really break up the flow of the album. But I'm fairly certain they work wonders live.
The only other problem one encounters with the Death Set is that their sound just doesn't vary enough for extended listens. Obviously not a problem live, but one can only freak the fuck out alone in your room/car for so long before you get a little bored. I guess it's good that most tracks clock in between 30 seconds and 2 minutes in length, eh? I recommend you get to a live show near you once they start touring in support of Wordlwide, or just buy the album and pop it in when you really need to go ape-shit crazy.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Vampire Weekend, goddamn bloodsuckers...
It's here. Last week, NYC's Vampire Weekend dropped their hotly anticipated, highly hyped, self-titled and first LP on XL Recordings.
Reading more and more of the hooplah, reaching supernova levels, I really wanted to hate this release. But goddammit, every once in a while, there's actually something that comes out that meets the expectations. For me, this was like Michael Bay's Transformers. I didn't think I liked the people behind the scenes and I thought they didn't know the material they were working with and were just delivering phoned-in approximations and reinterpretations.
Man was I wrong. More comments to come. Anybody else that can't get this damn CD out of their player/MP3s out of their MP3 player?
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Vampire Weekend - A-punk
