The Decemberists @ The Greek Theater (8.12.11)

The Decemberists are a band that I have waited aeons to see. It seems every time they come to town I'm gone or otherwise indisposed, so finally after all the waiting, I managed to see them at the Greek Theater in the hills above LA.

The Greek is a venue that I have a particular affinity for. It's scenic outdoor venue and when I saw Wilco there years ago the sound was absolutely impeccable. I had always wondered if it was the Wilco's sound guy or the venue that made it so good. On friday I finally got my answer. Both. Before going any further I should mention that I had three audio engineers with me at the time. I had set up this concert and venue as "the sound is going to be amazing!!!" From my perspective the sound was ok for the first half and by the end it was pretty good. I hope they don't think I was exaggerating. I was surprised actually at the how bad the sound was considering I knew what it could be like. If I didn't have such a good experience before I probably would have felt it was pretty good.

On a sad note, The Decemberist are currently touring without Jenny Conlee. She is currently taking time off to fight breast cancer. Her presence was greatly missed at the show and I wish her the best. To cover her parts a multi-instrumentalist Sara Watkins (Nickle Creek) was brought in. It would seem that they stayed away from the older material possibly because of Jenny's absence. As a result I felt as if the show was more a Colin Meloy solo show where he played some new Decemberists songs.

I felt that the bands energy for most of the evening was low, and most of the songs they played were a bit mellow. Their antics were limited to Colin making a few jokes between songs. One particular anecdote was talking about the "worst song he ever wrote that he now has to play at every show." He then played a song about "Dracula's Daughter" which lead into "O Valencia!." It makes you wonder if they're getting a bit tired of playing what I can only assume on radio stations out of LA is a hit. Sadly there is a huge gap in what gets played on the radio out here. Don't get me wrong there's always "Morning Becomes Eclectic," but it hasn't been the same since Nic Harcourt left. One new song they did well was January Hymn. I haven't figured out what it is about that song I like, I just do.

So during their first encore the band came out and played the infamous "Mariner's Revenge Song." This song really showed how fun the band can be even if they were kinda low key most of the night. There was pageantry, audience participation and animated russian style dancing. At least I think it was Russian... They are the Decemberists and all.



According to my friend Gabrielle I didn't get ripped off because they played it. All in all a good (albeit moderately disappointing) show, but I look forward to seeing them again when Jenny's back and feeling 100%. Here's wishing her a speedy recovery.

===========================================
Here's an additional video from their first encore. Proving once again that the drummers are always the weirdos of the band.

Those Darlins @ The Echo (7.29.11)

I've been offline for a bit, sorry I didn't fake my kidnapping or have someone post something in my stead. I'm sure that would have been more interesting. I do however have a good excuse. I was here:


Which I know is kinda vague, but lets just say it was someplace south of the US and kinda awesome. To business...


Went and saw Those Darlins at the Echo in LA. There were two opening acts, Motopony and White Arrow. Motopony was kinda bland poprock with a talented (yet still bland) vocalist who was clearly full of himself and some kinda substance. Not sure what it was but he spent half his set trying to hug the audience. My favorite "Pony" band will always be these guys although they are now Phantom Buffalo. White Arrows was actually a great surprise as they are a local band that wasn't even billed for the show. Reminded me a bit of Vampire Weekend meets the Strokes meets some form of dance/ funk or something. Based on their cool factor, hopefully they won't hate that description... Since it was the first time I'd run into these guys, I didn't catch then names of their songs to call out. I can say that their cover of the boss' "I'm On Fire" was an upbeat danceable version of the original that definitely put a smile on the faces of the older people in the crowd/ ironic 80's fans. Isn't that why we all like 80's music anyway?

Those Darlins were every bit as fun, strange, weird and wonderful as I had expected.


And yes... Their drummer way in the back is inexplicably dressed as a boy scout... I had gathered my understanding of what they might be like live from a few youtube vids and a photo posted by the Old 97's. Sufficed to say, they delivered, I was thoroughly amused by the moderate insincerity in Jessi wandering up on the front of the stage giving people weird looks. Almost intentionally over the top... I thought they were as nuts as they could be, that is, until the end of show pigpile roll around on stage...



but more of that later.

I have heard both of their albums and found myself really wondering what band was going to show up... but in a good way, not like Badly Drawn Boy, who can swing from genius to a-hole not even night to night, but song to song... When I listened to the album I thought that maybe this band or this one would show up. Having brought friends unfamiliar, it was a bit nerve racking. The first song or two was upbeat, but then they abruptly dropped tempo. At that point I panicked. Fortunately they quickly recovered and that brought on a hipster moustache riot.


Which coincidentally is the title of a song I'm now writing. Unfortunately, I was way to slow in writing this due to a late night return from show, early AM surfing, back injuries etc. So as a result I'm struggling with the a bit more of the specifics on songs played than I would have liked. They of course played their hits off the latest album (screws get loose and be your bro). What made me happy though was that they hit alot of their first album too. While they used to tour with uke AG and bass, they now are touring with 2EG and Bass. This change in instrumentation makes everything a bit more rocky so all the old stuff was a cool variation of the original. One song that stayed in my head was wild one. I don't recall if it was their encore or last song of their first set, but shakin on over was just a fun cover...

I really tried to bring my camera to this gig, but couldn't get the signoff on it. Instead I brought my point-n-shoot and tried to shoot flashless. Due to the complete lack of light I did at the end decide to be a dick and shot one with a flash. There was a guy right up front that was pelting them all night with a flash, so I figured one wouldn't hurt...



These gals are a wildly fun show, great on stage and can pull off their songs live. I highly recommend checking them out.

Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine

While a bit country leaning, John Prine has always been one of my favorite musicians. For those not familiar, to me he is the country folk equivalent of Bob Dylan. When I discovered that a number of musicians that I like or know such as Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Connor Oberst (Bright Eyes) and My Morning Jacket had collaborated on a John Prine Tribute CD, I immediately picked it up.

I was completely blown away by the fact that the big ticket draws (as mentioned above) were actually not the highlights for the CD. The song Justin Vernon did was "meh." The song Connor Oberst did was more in the vein of his new "Mystic Valley" project which is ok, but I still consider it lesser than his Bright Eyes style material. The My Morning Jacket cover just annoyed me.

Justin Townes Earls did an awesome job with Far From Me, one of my absolute favorite sad songs about inevitability and impermanence of relationships. The only thing I wish he hadn't done was slam on the low "bass" string of what should be a finger style guitar part. Listening closely I can't pick out the rest of the part, so I'm not sure what he was thinking. Comparing this version to the original 1970's version its very different, but its more similar to how Prine is playing it now. The rest of what Justin Townes Earls does is not exactly my cup of tea, but some people may like him.

This compilation also introduced me to the Avett Brothers, something for which I am eternally grateful (even if they have gone off the pop deep end lately). They do a fantastic job with Spanish Pipedream. It's been a bit of a theme song for me whenever I think about all the city livin I have been doing lately. I absolutely love these guys and will be writing more about them soon. In case you're wondering, this and this is more how I think of these guys.

Old Crow Medicine Show had some big shoes to fill covering "Angel From Montgomery" one of John Prine's most well known and covered songs. They didn't screw it up, but compared to musicians like Bonny Rait, Ben Harper and even John Denver they just didn't hold up.

Those Darlin's are an absolutely nuts mostly girl alt-country band crossbred with a low fi indy band. They do a fun little cover of "Lets Talk Dirty in Hawaiian" that just has to be heard to be described. Its a bit out of place for what they normally do, but so far, I've been loving everything these gals do.

From time to time I have been known to pick up compilations when I am looking to find some new artists. In this case, not only did I get a good CD full of songs I like, but its also introduced me to some great up and coming artists.

Author's Note: If this seems a bit rushed, it's because the CD I had planned to review is about a week or so late from Amazon. If this happens again you might just be lucky enough to hear how I feel about musicians I am supposed to love, but don't.

Fleet Foxes (Self Titled)

Thanks to some constant encouragement from a few people that I know, I finally picked up the first Fleet Foxes Album. I had been very hesitant to do so as the quick preview I did on Amazon was so mellow and harmonious I was worried I would fall asleep listening to it. I could not have been more pleasantly surprised.

Its true that the Fleet Foxes describe themselves as "Baroque-Pop" music. This phrase to me screams stuffy chamber music and madrigals, but in truth it means carefully laid out harmonies and riff driven guitar parts laid over peaceful soundscapes. There's also a heavy modern influence in the sound that could be compared to bands like Band of Horses, Bon Iver, Rogue Wave, and Grizzly Bear.

For a first sampling/ introduction track I really dig the song "White Winter Hymnal."



It's simple, short, but it does a great job capturing the essence of the band. It starts out with a pseudo-round vocals then slowly layers entrances of voices and instrumentation that build a pyramid into the full song. Listening closely you hear several guitar parts (rythm AG, rythm EG and lead EG) all layered neatly so as to not distract from the melody of the song. The drums themselves are minimal with only the occasional tom hit and tambourine, but they do an excellent job accenting what is happening in the song. By the time the song ends the pyramid built up has collapsed and you have returned from your journey back to where you started all in the course of 2.5 minutes. Pretty impressive.

One of the distinct things about the Fleet Foxes sound is that everything is drenched in reverb, which lends to an ambient enveloping feeling in their songs that slowly absorbs you into their world. By the time the album ends you feel completely entrenched in the sonic journey that has taken you to another time, place and space.

So why was I so surprised? The album actually has a pretty good balance and energy to it that takes some thought to pull off. Of course, the horror of Muzak was first imposed upon us in the 1950s and has been ever since, so this is a very well understood field that should be hard to screw up, but I digress. My point being I have a hard time understanding why so many artists these days have trouble sequencing their albums. Fleet Foxes got it just right. I could just call out tracks I like, but for these guys, I like to experience the album as a whole. To cut it up would be taking away from what these guys are doing.

U2 and Lenny Kravitz @ Angels Stadium (6.17.11)

So on Thursday a friend found himself with an extra Red Zone ticket to see U2 play at the Angles Stadium of Anaheim Los Angeles California Orange County USA. I, of course, jumped at the chance. For those not familiar, Red Zone tickets guarantee you access to a special area close to the stage as well as the GA area in front of the stage. With the benefit of a short line and my recent exercise kick, I was able to get to the front row just to the left of the stage.


Before I talk about the concert I should mention that these Red Zone tickets are very controversial with the hardcore fans who pay the GA fee rather than pony up the extra dough. The GA fans essentially line up hours (and I have heard even days) in advance to get a chance at getting close to the stage. I definitely got a great spot because of my red zone ticket, but totally understand why the fans were cheesed off. Still, they should be cheesed off at the band not the people who paid for the tickets.

So, being in such a great spot, I was able to take some AMAZING shots of both Lenny Kravitz and U2.


It was the first time in 15 years or so that I have seen Lenny Kravitz, and while it's a different energy, he still had a lot of it. I was surprised at the number of songs he played that I knew. Fly Away, Are you Gonna Go My Way (which Bono slipped a weird ref in to later), Let Love Rule, It Ain't Over Till its Over and a bunch of other songs I remember but don't know the names of.


Typically I despise large concerts. There's such a disconnect between the band and the audience that its essentially just listening to the album really loud while crammed into a small space. This is never the case with U2. I saw them on their last big tour in 2005. That time my seat was as far from the stage as you could get (back wall top row of the venue). Even still, the visuals were amazing and the camera work so good you felt involved in the show. U2 360 was a bit different, as for the most part I was so close I could not see the elaborate stage/screens. There was a section where the stage came down that was cool and I am sure from further back it would have been even more impressive.

One thing a bit odd was that they played David Bowie's "Space Oddity" before the show and immediately after was "Rocket Man." Not sure what the tie in was to other than maybe the fact that the stage looks like the LAX spaceship or Gabrielle Giffords' Husband who made an appearance.

Mark Kelly's appearance was something I heard about before, so I am gathering it is something they have worked in to every segment of the tour. Essentially they had him holding up the words to "Beautiful Day" in space. I kinda felt a bit pandered too, but its all part of the U2 pageantry so it was still cool. When I'm a big rock star I'd like to have a guy from space showing off the words too my songs too.

The band was amazingly tight and on cue. Almost too much so. The one major glitch was that the guitar level on "I'll Go Crazy..." was low at the start. As soon as the Edge walked away from the pedals, everything was back to normal. I hate to be the suspicious guy wondering how much was pre-recorded, but I can say that I heard enough wireless dropouts/pops in the vox etc that I feel better about how much was live. "Go Crazy" I think had a lot of pre-recorded music though as it allowed Larry Mullen, Jr. to get out into the crowd playing djimbe.


It's notable that "I'll go crazy..." is one of the only songs off the most recent album they played, and thank god for that. Every so often U2 puts out a crap album. Given that they've put out so many good albums (Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, All that you cant leave behind, How to Dismantle an atomic bomb) I forgive them.

In one of the visual highlights of the night, Bono wore some crazy laser jacket and was swinging from a suspended microphone during the batman soundtrack song "Hold me, thrill me, kiss me, kill me." Not such a huge fan of the song, but all the lights were pretty cool. I shot a video, but sadly I was trying to shoot with my other camera at the same time, so its a bit off.



For me the best part of the show was the encore during which they played "One" and "Where the streets have no name" two of my favorite songs. It was the perfect culmination to an excellent evening. With that, I will leave you with a few more photos.








========================================

This is a complete side note, but Bono has definitely put on a few Katie Courics. Feel free to watch that later if you haven't. Don't know if its from the backiotomy Bono had a while back or the fact that U2 has been in existence longer than I have.

Bon Iver (Self Titled)

So this review started as a conversation with a co-worker about the new Bon Iver Album. She was kind enough to inform me it's up on NPR (pre-release) so check it out. After a first listen, I can say I am disappointed. Everything I like about Bon Iver's first album is gone. This should have been my first clue.

When listening to songs like "Calgary" and "Hinnom, TX" the phrases "overproduced" and "disappeared up his own..." come to mind. Really it's just too much synth and not enough of that underwater warm acoustic sound that permeated the first album. Apparently no one told Vernon that Beirut has the market cornered for non-guitar indy albums.

To be fair (and less snarky), my issue is I had a grand vision of where the guy was going and he totally went the other way. When I heard the first album and follow up EP, I thought “give it bit more percussion and do a few more up tempo songs to mix with some of the slow and this guy is gonna have it.” Sadly Vernon instead decided to create an electronic soundscape background album.

Don’t get me wrong, I sorta like the new album, and I completely respect artist that venture in new directions, I am just expressing my disappointment for what could have been. It’s like going to Paris and ordering “un sandwiche avec beaucoup de jambon et une tasse de vin” and getting grilled cheese with a coke... You’re still in Paris, right?

I tried for a while to find songs that I like on the new album. I did so because I want to talk positively about this guy because of how good his first album is. There are bits of "Minnisota, WI" that I dig, namely the arpeggiated guitar sounds (ahem... stereo hp eargasm), but I can't get past the horns and Phoneix style synths. "Towers" is also kind of cool, but the slide guitars and country drum beats feel out of place with the rest of the album.

Truth be told, none of the songs are terrible, and I will probably still buy the album. I just hope that album three will be more too my liking. BTW if you don't have anything from Bon Iver, start with "For Emma, Forever Ago." It's one of my favorites.

As an interesting post-script, I did not read the NPR review until after finishing my own, and find it interesting that we both called the guy out for that odd performance on Jimmy Fallon...

Noah and the Whale

Got Noah and the Whale's first album recently. This band appears to be evolving into another Death Cab knockoff, so I carefully selected "Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down" as my starting sample point.

This is one of the better structured albums I have run into in a while. Ebbs and flows quite nicely. Not perfect (gets a bit squirrely at the end), but still pretty good. As far as I am concerned, the best album rather than collection of song's is Badly Drawn Boy's - Hour of Bewilderbeast.

The first few tracks are so upbeat they just make you happy to be alive. Don't get me wrong, the subject matter might not be the happiest, but sometimes its just a feel... The video for Shape of My Heart says it all:



This track has heavy Beatles circa Sgt Pepper's overtones but keeps enough of a respectful distance to call it their own. Two Atoms in a Molecule reminds me (strangely) of Neutral Milk Hotel's "King of Carrot Flowers pt 1," but they are nothing alike. I also dig "Rocks and Daggers" for its country shuffle beats and backing vocals.

Speaking of which, I absolutely love Laura Marling's voice. She should be more prominently used or do her own stuff... Oh wait... She does. Disappointingly though, her most recent album sounds like Mumford and Sons (she was apparently dating the singer from this band for a while). Don't get me wrong, Mumford is a band I like, I just liked them better when they were Mumford and Sons. Give her time, she's young... eventually she'll find her own sound... but I digress...

The track on this album that really hit it for them is 5 years time. It's a pretty catchy poppy track so I can see why it got them noticed. Fun Wes Anderson style vid too... Although if you listen to the words, its almost sugary enough to give a man diabetes.

If I were looking for something new I would definately pick up this album.