On with the show(s) January 28, 2008
Posted by bbop in friends, music, travel.Tags: Basia Bulat, Feist, Jon Brion, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, Petra Haden, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Tift Merritt
2 comments
Crap, I haven’t updated this thing in almost three weeks. Bad blogger! (Slaps own wrist.) I kept meaning to, honest. If only for the sake of my five readers. It’s kind of crazy how time slips away from you. I feel like New Year’s Day was just the other day, and I look at the calendar and next week it’ll be February already. Madness, I tell you.
Lest my lack of posting be interpreted as a concert drought, I should point out that I have seen a good amount of live music this month. A lot of the shows I’ve gone to, though, have featured artists I was seeing for the first time. So I guess part of the reason for the dearth of recent reports has to do with not having a tremendous amount to say about some of those shows because of a lack of familiarity with the music. (Also the reason for a relative lack of setlists below.)
Not a very good excuse, I admit, but I’m going to try and write a quick update of the month now. And I’m going to rely on that old sportswriting standby to do it: the notes column. So without further ado…
The New Year’s festivities in Chicago got off to an early start with a Dec. 30 show at Schuba’s with a pair of Midwestern bands, Catfish Haven and Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s. I dragged Sam along, and she agreed mainly because we both like Catfish Haven. They were fun, as usual, and I always dig seeing them with the two backing vocalists who usually sing with them at their hometown gigs. Then it was onto Margot, who played a similar set to the one they had played a couple of weeks earlier in New York. Similar, but not completely the same since we got to hear a couple of new songs they hadn’t played in New York. It was cool to hear everyone singing along with “hits” like “Skeleton Key.” While the New York show was sold out, it seems like Margot is much beloved in Chicago. …
I couldn’t make it to Margot’s New Year’s Eve show the following night because I already had a prior engagement with a bunch of friends and Jon Brion. I usually don’t write about Jon’s shows because it’s hard to do them justice, and because they are recapped so much better here. But just to make a brief mention of his two Chicago performances this time around, on New Year’s Eve (and early New Year’s Day) at the underground Harris Theater and a hastily announced club date Jan. 2 at Martyr’s, they were each memorable in their own way. The New Year’s Eve show was sort of two shows in one with Jon first coming out and playing a couple of songs with surprise guest Britt Daniel of Spoon, followed by a mini Autumn Defense set by John Stirratt and Pat Sansone. Then all three guests joined Jon and a drummer for a few numbers. Following an intermission, Jon’s main set began. It was, as you might expect given the night, a pretty rowdy affair that included a raucous singalong to “Bohemian Rhapsody” and a brief moment when I thought the show was spinning out of control after Jon invited people on stage to write requests on a big pad of paper. But as with so many Jon shows, seeming chaos developed into flashes of brilliance with a closing salvo of “Cortez the Killer,” a Bruce Springsteen-esque song that was actually made up on the spot and a crowd singalong to “God Only Knows.”
During the New Year’s show, Jon announced another show two nights later with a simple message on the aforementioned pad of paper (though our friends had been fortunate and had gotten a little advance warning). Martyr’s was an intimate venue much more suited to Jon’s act, and he obliged with two sets that showed why his small cult of fans is so devoted. From a beautiful “Amateur” early on to “Cathy’s Clown” later, the keyboard was the star of the first set. That gave way to a guitarfest in the second set, particularly when Jon invited Pat Sansone to join him once again. Pat, in turn, brought a drummer, Ryan who plays for Chicago band Vee Dee as well as working as Wilco’s light tech. The quartet was rounded out by a bassist plucked out of the front row and who, unlike some who have joined Jon on stage, knew his stuff. The impromptu group launched into a rocking Beatles mini-set that included “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey,” “Revolution,” and “Tomorrow Never Knows.” By the time Jon came out for a brief encore of “Knock Yourself Out” (which is where the above photo was snapped), we were all filled with enough warmth to endure the frigid Chicago night. …
A day after getting home from Chicago, I was at it again when I went down to the Mercury Lounge to check out The XYZ Affair, a New York band I had heard good things about. Having not heard any of their music before, I walked away a bit underwhelmed. None of their songs really grabbed me right away, and they seemed very young. But I would check them out again. … I managed to sell my ticket for the last night of Natalie Merchant’s show run and buy a ticket for a Rough Trade showcase at Joe’s Pub featuring Basia Bulat and Jeffrey Lewis. Primarily I wanted to see Bulat, a young Canadian singer-songwriter about whom I have heard several raves. She definitely was as good as advertised, even though I didn’t know any of her music. Switching from autoharp to acoustic guitar to something I later found out from her was an old-timey instrument called a pianoette, Bulat was wholly charming. I’m very much looking forward to her upcoming record. I stayed for Lewis, who mostly played stuff off his upcoming record of remakes of songs by the British anarchist band Crass. I’ve always been kind of intrigued by Lewis, who is also a talented artist and incorporates that into his live show. I’m not sure that I would go out of my way to see him, but I’ve definitely seen much, much worse. …
The next night I headed out to Union Hall, a relatively new venue in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, to see Tift Merritt (pictured above). I had wanted to see Merritt for a long time, but it had never worked out until now. I loved the intimate little venue, which was located beneath a sprawling bar with a couple of indoor bocce courts. Opening the show was Hotel Lights, a band led by former Ben Folds Five drummer Darren Jessee. I had seen them once before ages ago with a fuller lineup (as I remember, anyway), but this time it was a stripped-down duo that played quiet music reminiscent of the Autumn Defense. It was a little mellow for me, but at least they played one of my favorite Jessee songs, “Amelia Bright.” Then it was time for Merritt, who played solo. With a new record coming out, she previewed a good amount of that material but also included what I later discovered were some pretty old songs. Apparently she has relocated to New York from North Carolina, so I hope to have a chance to see her again soon. …
One night later, on Jan. 12, my run of shows continued with a performance by Petra Haden at the Stone, a tiny Lower East Side avant-garde club. I figured she wasn’t going to be doing conventional stuff, but I didn’t really know what to expect. As it turned out, she was joined by experimental music veteran Laurie Anderson on violin and keyboard. The two proceeded to do an eclectic 40-minute uninterrupted “piece” that featured Haden’s improvised vocals. It veered from haunting to rocking to almost melancholy at times. Definitely a far cry from Haden’s work with the Decemberists and Foo Fighters or even her own unique vocal style when covering songs like “I Can See For Miles” and “God Only Knows.” It’s good to see Haden stretch out and do some different stuff, though. I always felt like she was kind of misunderstood in her time with the Decemberists. …
Just before heading downtown to see Haden, I was over at the New York Times’ Arts and Leisure Week talk with Feist, pictured above with interviewer Jon Pareles. The session mostly featured on the immense success of her 2007 record The Reminder. We learned about how the song “1 2 3 4″ came to be used in an iPod commercial, which she explained came about when she refused to play at a birthday party for the daughter of some Canadian music bigwig who, in turn, had her essentially blacklisted from Canadian radio. When Apple approached her about using “1 2 3 4,” she felt like it was her chance to sort of get revenge on the bigwig by getting her music out there and heard. And boy did it ever get heard! Other topics included her work process (she likes to work with a small group of trusted people), how she hooked up with the Kings of Convenience (she met them at a noise fest in Europe, amazingly enough) and how she feels about musical collaborations (she doesn’t really believe in them that much). I found it amusing how people would address her as Feist, as if she didn’t have a first name (Leslie). Like “Hi Feist, here’s my question” or “You are great, Feist.” And I can’t say that Pareles was the best interviewer, but eventually the conversation warmed up to transcend most of the awkwardness. …
The last show I’ll mention in this post is one of the best I’ve seen in a while by an artist I hadn’t seen before. I had wanted to see Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings for some time, but they were another act that slipped through the cracks. I rectified that by traveling down to Washington D.C. and, joined by Heidi, making it to their show at Black Cat on Jan. 17. And what a show! I’m sure it wouldn’t be any surprise to anyone who’s seen them before, but I loved just about everything about this retro soul/funk band. I imagine it’s about as close to seeing James Brown as you can get today. I had heard that Mrs. Jones got the crowd involved, but she really fed off the audience’s energy by bringing various members of the front row (thankfully not us, this time!) up on stage to dance to just playing to the crowd. By the time the band launched their encore with a cover of “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” they had us eating out of their hands. The bottom line: If you want to see a fun show in which ass-shaking just can’t be helped, do yourself a favor.
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Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s//12-30-07//Schubas, Chicago, IL//support: Catfish Haven
new song (“carnival”)/new song (“when all the liquor is gone, gone, gone”)/Paper Kitten Nightmare/On A Freezing Chicago Street/new song-Bad Case of the Blues (“I want to gouge your eyes out”)/new song-The Ocean (“don’t you cry my darling”)/Broadripple Is Burning/Vampires In Blue Dresses//Quiet As A Mouse/new song (“this is how you teach someone to drive”)/Skeleton Key/Bookworm//e: new song-Lightning Rod (“I am a lightning rod”)/Barfight Revolution
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Jon Brion and Friends//12-31-07//Harris Theater, Chicago, IL//support: none
Set 1
[with Britt Daniel] Everything Hits at Once/The Underdog/[with Britt Daniel, John Stirratt, Pat Sansone, and Howard Windmiller] I Feel Fine/with John Stirratt and Pat Sansone] Sentimental Lady/Row/Eternal Sunshine Theme/Happy with You
Set 2
Meaningless/New Year’s countdown>Auld Lang Syne/Happy Birthday [to Brett]/Walking Through Walls/minor key improv/Just Like a Woman/I Believe She’s Lying/ragtime instrumental/Bohemian Rhapsody/Sail Away>Knock Yourself Out/Life on Mars/Ruin My Day/Words of Love>Lithium>Uncomplicated>Deathly/[with John Stirratt and Pat Sansone] Cortez the Killer/[with John Stirratt and Pat Sansone] fake Springsteen song/Queen Elvis/God Only Knows//e: Maple Leaf Rag
*—setlist courtesy of easily fooled
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Jon Brion//1-2-08//Martyr’s, Chicago, IL/support: none
Set 1
I Fall in Love Too Easily/Why Do You Do This to Yourself/Tainted Love/I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good)/Amateur/We Didn’t Start the Fire/Girl I Knew>7 Nation Army>James Bond theme>Peter Gunn>Secret Agent Man>Surrender>Police on My Back>Girl I Knew/Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now>Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want/Same Thing/Further Along/I’m Gonna Lock My Heart and Throw Away the Key/Trouble/You Say You Don’t Love Me/What a Fool Believes [Les Paul style]/Cathy’s Clown/Everyday/She’s Not There>/I’m Waiting for the Man
Set 2
So I Fell in Love with You/Ishtar medley/Cheers theme/Western-style instrumental
[with Pat Sansone and Ryan (Vee Dee)] Daydream/You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice/Summer in the City/Sunny Afternoon/[with Pat, Ryan and Packy] Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey/Revolution/Don’t Let Me Down/I Want You (She’s So Heavy)/Tomorrow Never Knows//e: Knock Yourself Out
*—setlist courtesy of easily fooled
Busy as a bee January 10, 2008
Posted by bbop in family, music.2 comments
My mom told me recently that one of the main reasons she worries about me not having a job is that I’ll be bored sitting at home all the time. To be fair, she doesn’t know the full extent of my globetrotting ways. But even when I’m not on the road, I like to think I keep fairly busy.
This past week since getting back from the holidays is a perfect example. Between a spring (albeit in winter) cleaning of my apartment, crazily trying to help make arrangements for a planned trip to Australia and New Zealand in March and April and just generally trying to keep my life in order, I’ve been swamped. And that’s just during the day.
On top of that, there’s been stuff seemingly every night — and not just shows (more on those in another post). This week alone, I’ve already…
-gone to see director Sidney Lumet’s talk, part of the New York Times’ Arts & Leisure Week. (Monday)
-donned a suit and tie to attend the annual reception held by my high school’s New York alumni association and then saw Mart and Craig play at Slane (Tuesday)
-attended a workshop on resumes and cover letters in preparation for my inevitable job hunt (Wednesday)
and I’m still planning to…
-see a Rough Trade showcase with Basia Bulat and Jeffrey Lewis at Joe’s Pub (tonight)
-see Hotel Lights, the band of former Ben Folds Five member Darren Jessee, and Tift Merritt at Union Hall (tomorrow)
-go to Feist’s talk in the NY Times’ Arts & Leisure Week series and, afterward, hopefully make it to Petra Haden’s show at the Stone (Saturday)
Then I think I’ll have a few days “off” before I go down to Washington, D.C., for a few days to visit Heidi. So no worries, Mom, I’m not getting bored at all. My question is how do people who have regular jobs do those, plus everything else they need to do and still have time for some fun stuff?
Everybody’s doing it January 6, 2008
Posted by bbop in music.Tags: Arcade Fire, Baby Teeth, Feist, Joe Henry, New Pornographers, Of Montreal, Richard Swift, Rilo Kiley, The Broken West, Wilco
3 comments
In a time when the availability of music is probably at an all-time high, because of leaking, downloading or simple abundance (with many records self-released by the artists themselves), it seems increasingly futile to try and compile an old-fashioned year-end “best of” list. After all, what some might consider a 2007 release might actually have come out overseas in 2006 (such as a pair of albums by English bands, Brakes’ The Beatific Visions and The Long Blondes’ Someone To Drive You Home, that are honorable mentions on my 2007 list). Or they might not be widely available to the public — which is the traditional sense of a “release” — until 2008 (like Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago and Vampire Weekend’s debut album, two of the year’s blogger favorites). Who’s to say when something “officially” comes out anymore?
Personally, I have a hard time ranking records anyway. I suppose you can do it to a certain extent, but when it comes to albums I really like, I don’t know if I can say whether one is categorically “better” than another. It all kind of depends on when I’m listening to something or what kind of mood I’m in. I think that’s probably true of most people, so I almost find an unranked list of 10, 20 or even 50 albums that someone liked more interesting to look at than one that claims such and such is the best album of the year and such and such is No. 2 and so on.
Since the year-end list is such a staple, though, I figure if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. So without further ado, here are the 10 albums I most enjoyed in 2007. Probably.
*Neon Bible, The Arcade Fire*
Why I liked it: It wasn’t Funeral, but the band’s second full-length effort took some of the raw emotion from its heralded debut and channeled it into a dark, brooding meditation on the state of the world. And though it took a few listens to fully absorb some of the songs, ultimately that combination of energy and edge helped to forge a winning collection.
Favorite track: “Intervention”
*The Simp, Baby Teeth*
Why I liked it: Sam recommended this one, and she was definitely right on. The first time I listened to it, every song grabbed me in some way, and that’s usually a good sign that I’m going to like an album. It has infectious melodies that work their way inside your head and a variety of influences — a little soul, a little dance, a little glam, a little funk — that always keep things interesting. One of the bands I’m really hoping to get a chance to see live soon.
Favorite track: “The Birds Are Crying”
*I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On, The Broken West*
Why I liked it: Hooks, hooks and more hooks kept me coming back to this record frequently in the year or so since its release. Its combination of vocal harmonies, Byrdsian guitars and sweet melodies reminded me of a less twangy Jayhawks or maybe a slightly less power poppy, Grand Prix-era Teenage Fanclub. Which, if you know the esteem in which I hold those two bands, is saying something.
Favorite track: “Down in the Valley”
*The Reminder, Feist*
Why I liked it: Count me among the legions who found this record to be vibrant, inventive and darn catchy. I’m sure some will be reluctant to celebrate it because of its commercial appeal (the Apple ads, the Starbucks connection, how it always seems to be playing in Barnes & Noble), but you can’t deny that it is a pleasure to listen to. Let It Die was a favorite as well, and the followup shares its sense of exploration. As Kelefa Sanneh wrote in his review of two New York shows last summer, “Feist declines to stick to a single mood or style. This is a meticulously made album, but it has the pleasantly casual feel of a sketchbook.”
Favorite track: “Past In Present” (“1 2 3 4″ is just too obvious)
*Civilians, Joe Henry*
Why I liked it: I know Henry has been making quality music for a while now, but for whatever reason, this is the first album of his that I have really been able to get into. But, boy, did I get into it. He seems like a real singer-songwriter’s singer-songwriter, whatever that means, and I’ve heard others say that this one might be his finest work yet. It’s an elegant, atmospheric record that makes you listen carefully to appreciate it fully, perfect for listening to late at night when you’re the last one awake and have some time to contemplate.
Favorite track: “Our Song”
*Challengers, The New Pornographers*
Why I liked it: With the exception of Mass Romantic, every album has been somewhat of a grower for me though I think that has as much to do with the pure pop brilliance of that debut as anything else. Challengers didn’t buck the trend, which also includes my renewed love for the band after a new work has had time to sink in. Some people deemed this record too “mellow,” but although I love power pop as much as anyone, I liked hearing a deeper and more subtle side of the band. Not that hooks were entirely lacking (see “All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth”), but they weren’t the main focus this time. Rather, they merely served as a vehicle for Carl Newman and Dan Bejar’s enigmatic, always interesting lyrics.
Favorite track: “Myriad Harbour”
*Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, Of Montreal*
Why I liked it: I don’t pretend to understand what is going through Kevin Barnes’ head, but whatever it is, I like the effects that it has on his music. While previous efforts Satanic Panic in the Attic and The Sunlandic Twins had some moments of sheer wonder, Hissing Fauna might be the most cohesive record yet. It’s got a dark undercurrent that gives it some substance, but also the psychedelic pop and dance elements we’ve all come to know and love. The production might be dense, but to me, it made this album all the more fascinating.
Favorite track: “Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse”
*Under the Blacklight, Rilo Kiley*
Why I liked it: I have to admit I’ve never quite understood those who say they like Jenny Lewis, but not Rilo Kiley (which I frequently heard from people who praised her solo record Rabbit Fur Coat). To me, Lewis — her voice, her ideas — is primarily what elevates the group above your run-of-the-mill indie band. And this record has more of Lewis’ stamp on it than ever. She wrote or co-wrote all but one of the songs and, besides the sexual theme, her vocals are really the thing that unify this album’s eclectic mix of styles. Many have criticized this record for sounding “too slick,” and that may be, but I don’t mind because it’s so enjoyable to listen to.
Favorite track: “Silver Lining”
*Dressed Up For The Letdown, Richard Swift*
Why I liked it: Maybe it was hearing them night after night when Swift (and Casey Foubert) opened for Wilco on the West Coast last summer, but these songs really creeped into my head and weren’t easy to shake. Swift’s almost-laconic vocal delivery accentuate the melancholy mood of the record, but somehow the melodies never suffer. And while the production can come off a ramshackle at times, a close listening reveals some careful and surprisingly intricate arrangements.
Favorite track: “Kisses For The Misses”
*Sky Blue Sky, Wilco*
Why I liked it: Aside from a wonderful memory of hearing it for the first time and subsequently hearing most of the songs live about 35 times, this record touched me because of its moments. Like the first guitar solo, in “Either Way,” when you picture Nels Cline playing that lick and smile to yourself. Like the point in “You Are My Face,” where the song explodes out of its gentle beginning. Like the organ solo in the middle of “On and On and On.” Will it supplant Summerteeth as my favorite Wilco record? Probably not. But I appreciate it for what it is — a lovely, melodic expression of soul. Not soul music, but actual soul. Don’t judge it because you don’t like that it was used for car commercials or you expected it to be noisy, rootsy or something else.
Favorite track: “Impossible Germany”
Honorable mentions:
*The Beatific Visions, Brakes
*Time On Earth, Crowded House
*The Distant Future (EP), Flight of the Conchords
*Shrunken Heads, Ian Hunter
*Living With The Living, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
*Someone To Drive You Home, The Long Blondes
*Drums and Guns, Low
*Trees Outside The Academy, Thurston Moore
*Writer’s Block, Peter, Bjorn and John
*Magic, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Special citation:
I’m Not There soundtrack — I think, as a general rule, soundtracks probably shouldn’t be included in year-end lists. But it’s not often that such an awesome collection of talent is brought together and has such fertile material with which to work. Not every interpretation of Bob Dylan on this collection necessarily worked for me, but some were killer. I loved John Doe’s version of “Pressing On,” in particular, as well as the Jim James and Calexico take on “Goin’ To Acapulco.”
Wish I had spent more time with (or some time with):
*Strawberry Jam, Animal Collective
*New Magnetic Wonder, The Apples in Stereo
*Good Bad Not Evil, The Black Lips
*Spirit If…, Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew
*Lady’s Bridge, Richard Hawley
*Places, Georgie James
*Sound of Silver, LCD Soundsystem
*The Stage Names, Okkervil River
*Marry Me, St. Vincent
*Graduation, Kanye West
