I really loved this album, 100 Lovers by DeVotchka. Highly recommended.
I have been aware of this band for a little while, and they're a very interesting outfit. It's fair to say I have been struggling with finding new music, or music I have been really inspired by. I generally still end up listening to 'Rumours'. It is entirely possible I haven't been trying hard enough, but this, your mid-twenties, is the age when an inherent mistrust in modern music is born. Your mind hardens and you tire of trying to keep up with current trends, as your friends are no longer trying to either. Plus, Justin Bieber and Ke$ha exist. Enough said.
But music has a weird effect on me and aside from bands and albums I cherish, and the few universally acknowledged as timeless by the Western world (answers on a postcard), it's impossible to keep still musically, because artistry changes as rapidly as your tastes, moods and the atmospheric fluctuations causing weather.
An album I loved while reviewing, I might then never listen to again. In the aftermath of watching Juno, I thought Kimya Dawson was a goddess. Now I cannot bear hear soft, twee voice. But I would still crank up Buddy Holly's trembling tones.
Weezer are on tour. I have saddened myself by not buying a ticket. They were the one band left on my list of bands I have to see before I am allowed to die, and I am not going to see them. This is partly due to a complete hatred of their past two albums. And maybe a newborn desire to live out a more decent lifespan, instead of my intended joing of The 27 Club.
But what upsets me most of all is that no band has taken their place as a 'must-see'. There are a few bands I would love to see, if the opportunity arose: I was lucky enough to see the Decemberists just a few nights ago.
But I have nothing left to live for without this goal, and nothing to die for either. How annoying.
Monday 21 March 2011
Friday 18 March 2011
Long Live Live Music
How I love being an amateur music journalist, when you get to blag last minute tickets to see The Decemberists at the Hammersmith Apollo in order to review their support, Blind Pilot.
While I heartily support Blind Pilot and the lovely press officer who allowed me to see this show, I was feeling a bit out of sorts and so am not entirely 100% pleased with the review. It was also hampered by the poor sound quality during the act themselves. Very unfair, especially considering the similar nature of the instrumentalism in both bands, which should have been reflected from the start. I find it hard to believe the sound engineer could cock up in a venue like that, or that such enthusiastic bands would fail to do thorough sound tests.
But anyway, this bit here is my excuse to talk about The Decemberists. As with all great timeless acts, their music is hard to describe. I told a friend that a lot of it has a sort of 'sea-shanty' air but to be honest I think I'm selling short the breadth and depth of American music history by saying that. Their roots echo genres that I only have the vaguest idea about, such as bluegrass, but they still retain a large amount of good ol' rock and roll. YouTube has already served me well and allows me not to tell, but to show part of the actual performance:
They OBviously polished off the show with a rousing version of 'The Mariner's Revenge'. The whole audience pretending to be swallowed by a whale was the most fun I've had in a long time. When's the last time you just really, genuinely screamed as if you were being swallowed by a whale? Never.
The whole evening was what I would call a proper rock show. I had thought that as a group they might fall in to the "serious musician" category, coming out, sincerely playing a decent mix of recent releases and top hits (they totally eschewed 'Red Right Ankle') and then disappearing without a word. But Colin Meloy is one of the funniest frontmen I have ever seen. Not just incidentally throwing out witty lines, but being absurdly engaging and charismatic, more at home on a stage than I have ever seen anyone be, let alone a dumpy guy with flattened dark hair, thick glasses and a so-last-season lumberjack shirt. The theatricality made the songs... you could almost tell that if they hadn't been playing the music, they would have been leading the crowd dancing to it. I can't even remember which song it was, but the entire venue was swaying in perfect unison, mirroring the band exactly as they moved on stage. It's this kind of intense bond which can form between crowds and artists that makes a band more than just a group of successful musicians, that makes an live show truly memorable. Gig-goers will be used to the varying types of posturing and hero worship which go on, where even stage-diving or throwing your guitar to the audience merely amp up the persona of 'incredibly rock and fucking roll', but when an artist actually complains about how far away the audience is due to the stage barrier (c'mon, who would crowdsurf on that night?), you feel a little bit more gratification at taking the time, and spending the money, to see these people. And that's part of what music really, really is about. OK?
While I heartily support Blind Pilot and the lovely press officer who allowed me to see this show, I was feeling a bit out of sorts and so am not entirely 100% pleased with the review. It was also hampered by the poor sound quality during the act themselves. Very unfair, especially considering the similar nature of the instrumentalism in both bands, which should have been reflected from the start. I find it hard to believe the sound engineer could cock up in a venue like that, or that such enthusiastic bands would fail to do thorough sound tests.
But anyway, this bit here is my excuse to talk about The Decemberists. As with all great timeless acts, their music is hard to describe. I told a friend that a lot of it has a sort of 'sea-shanty' air but to be honest I think I'm selling short the breadth and depth of American music history by saying that. Their roots echo genres that I only have the vaguest idea about, such as bluegrass, but they still retain a large amount of good ol' rock and roll. YouTube has already served me well and allows me not to tell, but to show part of the actual performance:
They OBviously polished off the show with a rousing version of 'The Mariner's Revenge'. The whole audience pretending to be swallowed by a whale was the most fun I've had in a long time. When's the last time you just really, genuinely screamed as if you were being swallowed by a whale? Never.
The whole evening was what I would call a proper rock show. I had thought that as a group they might fall in to the "serious musician" category, coming out, sincerely playing a decent mix of recent releases and top hits (they totally eschewed 'Red Right Ankle') and then disappearing without a word. But Colin Meloy is one of the funniest frontmen I have ever seen. Not just incidentally throwing out witty lines, but being absurdly engaging and charismatic, more at home on a stage than I have ever seen anyone be, let alone a dumpy guy with flattened dark hair, thick glasses and a so-last-season lumberjack shirt. The theatricality made the songs... you could almost tell that if they hadn't been playing the music, they would have been leading the crowd dancing to it. I can't even remember which song it was, but the entire venue was swaying in perfect unison, mirroring the band exactly as they moved on stage. It's this kind of intense bond which can form between crowds and artists that makes a band more than just a group of successful musicians, that makes an live show truly memorable. Gig-goers will be used to the varying types of posturing and hero worship which go on, where even stage-diving or throwing your guitar to the audience merely amp up the persona of 'incredibly rock and fucking roll', but when an artist actually complains about how far away the audience is due to the stage barrier (c'mon, who would crowdsurf on that night?), you feel a little bit more gratification at taking the time, and spending the money, to see these people. And that's part of what music really, really is about. OK?
Wednesday 16 March 2011
Brown-noser
I had a spate of watching Derren Brown's programmes recently: some of the recordings of theatre shows and some of the series, 'Trick or Treat'. One of the key aspects, especially in his live act, is usually finding people who are the most receptive to his tricks, or rather, the most open to RHUBARB CRUMBLE suggestion.
This psychological openness is by no means a bad thing, it simply suggests what are generally known as 'left-brained' people, who would often be more creative, intuitive, and emotively driven.
Obviously I immediately wondered whether I fell into that category.
Now, thanks to the internet, I have a rough idea. This is not presciptive or incredibly definitive, but it does give a reasonable indication. Of course, if you're in the theatre watching Derren, you might have a natural proclivity for it anyway, or simply a desperate need to get closer to him.
Also if any part of your mind drifted towards buying some custard while reading this, it's possible you'd be perfect...
This psychological openness is by no means a bad thing, it simply suggests what are generally known as 'left-brained' people, who would often be more creative, intuitive, and emotively driven.
Obviously I immediately wondered whether I fell into that category.
Now, thanks to the internet, I have a rough idea. This is not presciptive or incredibly definitive, but it does give a reasonable indication. Of course, if you're in the theatre watching Derren, you might have a natural proclivity for it anyway, or simply a desperate need to get closer to him.
Also if any part of your mind drifted towards buying some custard while reading this, it's possible you'd be perfect...
Tuesday 15 March 2011
Wednesday 9 March 2011
Amnesty
Again, I have been a slovenly blogger. I have had a lot on my mind of late, but perhaps not much suitable for print. Not with the image I want for this blog, anyway.
I'm not surehow many look at this page, considering my long silences at the moment, but I have a new scheme afoot, and need your support!
More things soon, when I get the rest out of my system...
I'm not surehow many look at this page, considering my long silences at the moment, but I have a new scheme afoot, and need your support!
More things soon, when I get the rest out of my system...
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