Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Come See Liars on July 9

$20 in advance at the Biltmore. Their newest album WIXIW (pronounced "wish you"; Mute Records, 2012) is awesome and proves that the experimental Brooklyn trio keeps getting better and better, doing an amazing job of keeping fresh with every album:

Beck and Jack White Together Again

This has waited too long to happen, but it totally makes sense. Two days ago, Jack White's Third Man Records released Beck's new single "I Just Started Hating Some People Today"/"Blue Randy." These are the first Jack White/Beck collaborations since Beck produced and played on the White Stripes' 2007 Conquest EP. Other Jack White/Beck joints include Jack contributing bass to "Go It Alone" from Beck's album Guero and Beck making an all-too-brief cameo in the White Stripes' video for "The Hardest Button To Button."

Check out "I Just Started Hating Some People Today," which features Jack White on drums, acoustic guitar and background vocals, below, and preview "Blue Randy," which features Jack on drums, on Third Man's homepage.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Magnificent Roars Or Bon Iver and the Sublime

May 25, 2012
Deer Lake Park
Burnaby, British Columbia


To all musicians who charge over $50 a show: I hope you saw Bon Iver at Deer Lake Park, because that is how you put on a show worth that kind of money. "We're just going to play songs until the curfew," Justin Vernon casually said, and that they did with a solid hour-and-a-half show which included every Bon Iver song one could want to hear including a Bjork cover arranged around multi-instrumentalist Reginald Pace's beatboxing during the encore. Which Bjork song it was I wasn't sure, but they performed it as an ode to her having played Deer Lake Park exactly five years ago to the day.

Backed by an eight-person band, the live arrangements of Bon Iver's songs, which included a brass section and the largest saxophone I'd ever seen, at times made me feel as if I was seeing Broken Social Scene or a post-rock band as many of Bon Iver's songs broke like a dam, flooding the park with electric sound. The first kick of the drums rang through the park like a thunderclap, causing the people in front of me to physically recoil and jumpily "woo!" in surprise as if a draft had blown up their skirts. In fact, Bon Iver was the first time the speakers were so loud that I felt a tickle in my inner ear and a lump in my throat (having been an outdoor show, the sound had to project). Yet, the volume was never unbearable: everything sounded bold and clear, particularly the brass section. I'd never heard trumpets, trombones or saxes sound so ... deep - full - alive. Additionally, with Justin having urged the audience to "scream [their] asses off" during "The Wolves" because "no one can see you; you're not in a God-damned church!," it wasn't entirely the tender Bon Iver with which fans have fallen in love on record.

Clearest of all was Justin's voice. Every bit as rich as one would expect, I could hear people in the crowd gasp in utter awe at the things he did at the microphone, especially when he sang a cappella, slowly, without a whisper in the air from the audience, nearby traffic, birds, bugs or anything - just the total deafening silence of the audience and even Nature trying to hear Justin's voice at its purist. It was in that contrasting space between Justin's a cappella and the rest of the world's induced muteness that one realizes what one actually already knows, and that is just how fucking amazing Justin's voice truly is.

Honestly, try as I have, Bon Iver's only work I really like is For Emma, Forever Ago - and yes, I have heard his entire discography. But every one of his songs was incredible live. I never liked the electronic texturing on Bon Iver, Bon Iver, but even though Bon Iver employed some minor looping and other electronics, the songs from his self-titled sounded very organic; maybe it was due to the fact that I could see that humans were indeed bringing the music to life.

I tell ya, hearing "Flume," "Skinny Love," "Re: Stacks" (the only solo song of the night which Justin played on electric guitar) and "For Emma, Forever Ago" (the night's closer) - standing there in the third row, pretty much centre, so mesmerized, I could hardly do more than slowly and hypnotically sway back and forth, often with my eyes closed (I couldn't even sing along, I was so entranced) - those are the concert moments for which I live. They don't happen at every show, but when they do, there is nothing higher than that: that band - that performer - is the Ultimate - the Absolute. I'd never heard so many people shout "I LOVE YOU!!!" during a show (and this came from girls and guys), but Bon Iver fully deserved every such adulation of the night. Nor can I remember the last time I heard a crowd pop for literally every song with equal enthusiasm.

Click here for photos from Bon Iver live at Deer Lake Park.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Friday, May 25, 2012

I Don't Like Pearl Jam

But even after all these years, I still like "Save You":

Save You by Pearl Jam on Grooveshark

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Someone Remind Me To Bring Earplugs Tonight

Ohhhhhhhhhhh, baby. Stoked:

Mish Way Quote

"Of all the things that piss me off, nothing pisses me off more than the term 'rock chick.' Why? Because it's 2012, that's why. The whole women-playing-in-bands thing is not shocking anymore. I hate it when people ask me what it's like to be a girl who plays 'punk' music. You want to know what it's like? ... The only difference about being a girl who plays 'punk' music is that people ask you that stupid question."

 - Mish Way, lead-singer of Vancouver punk band White Lung. More is contained in her mini-article for Vice Magazine in which she takes aim at Alanis Morissette and praises Courtney Love.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Today in "Bands with Difficult Names To Google"

London, England's sugar-sweet punk rockers Throwing Up. Come to Van, please!

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Friday, May 18, 2012

Janelle Monae and Kid Koala To Play Vancouver Jazzfest

I missed you once before, Janelle, but I WILL see you at the Vancouver Jazzfest on June 29. Like your song says, it's dance or die:

Dance or Die by Janelle Monae on Grooveshark

Also playing at the Vancouver Jazzfest will be Vancouver-born turntablist Kid Koala. He'll be performing his "Space Cadet Headphone Concert" twice on June 27 (at 7:15 PM and 9:45 PM) and once more the next night (at 7:15 PM). "Combine 1 piano, 6 space pods, 7 turntables, and 250 sets of headphones with an audio science fair/gallery. What do you get? Fun for the whole family!" his website says, but even after having watched the concert's trailer, I'm still not entirely sure what I'll be getting into:

Thursday, May 17, 2012

When You Want To Block out the World

Jesus and Mary Chain. "The Living End" scratches everything and everyone into white noise:

The Living End by The Jesus and Mary Chain on Grooveshark

Best Coast - "The Only Place" Live on Letterman

Six daaayyyssss!!!:

It's Like an Episode of How It's Made

Except I'm actually interested in what's being made:

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Free Shows: Khatsahlano! Launch Party Live at Zulu Records

The Khatsahlano! Music + Art Festival is Vancouver's largest free outdoor music event, and this year, it's happening on July 21 from 12 PM to 8 PM. Eight blocks along 4th Avenue will boast five main stages and over thirty musical acts, as well as food, giveaways, street performers and of course, local shops.

To kick off or "launch" the Festival tonight (I guess there is a difference), Zulu Records, Vancouver's largest independent record store which is also located on 4th Avenue, will be featuring free in-store performances by three Khatsahlano! acts including Katheryn Calder (from the New Pornographers), the High Drops and Capitol 6. During the night, the rest of the bands to perform at Khatsahlano! will also be announced.

Monday, May 14, 2012

New Good Music. Every Day.

Today, British New Wave/synth-pop group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. The song is "She's Leaving" from their 1981 album Architecture & Morality (Dindisc/Virgin Records):

Let's Move To San Fran

So we can see this kind of shit ALL the time. Too bad the lead-singer of Student Teacher didn't mistake me for Permanent Collection's Jason Henhardy based on musical talent. Listen to Permanent Collection on their Bandcamp page here.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Lo-Fi Loud

May 11, 2012
The Electric Owl

Vancouver, British Columbia

I battled for the better part of the last month over whether I should have gotten tanked with a bunch of friends and seen Vancouver's Five Alarm Funk during their Rock the Sky album release  or seen Brooklyn's quite antithetically lo-fi, washed out Beach Fossils by myself and in all likelihood sober. Naturally, solitary tendencies aside, I chose to see Beach Fossils, mainly because a few days prior to the show, I read that Seattle's Seapony, one of my favourite bands, were opening. Not to take anything away from Five Alarm Funk, whom I'm sure were nothing short of fucking amazing, but I'm preeettyyy sure I made the right decision for me, even though Beach Fossils with Seapony wasn't exactly the dreamy, feel-good, sway-to-the-music evening I'd expected.

Unlike the first (and only) time I saw Seapony, when they played their songs pretty much the way the songs appeared on record, at the Electric Owl, Seapony rocked their songs the fuck up with solos, tremolos and faster tempos; save for maybe a couple of songs, Seapony certainly weren't as sentimental as usual. In another change of pace, just slightly more than half of Seapony's set included new songs, surprisingly leaving no room for their usual closer, a cover of the Field Mice's "Emma's House," despite Rose Melberg's presence (I saw her hanging around the bar with the band before the show). Also conspicuously absent from Seapony's set was "Always." I don't know what they have against that song, but once again, it didn't make the set. Will I ever get to hear "Always," the song that got me into Seapony, live?

Next was another surprisingly rocking band, Vancouver's Student Teacher. And not only were Student Teacher, of whom I'd never heard, surprisingly rocking: they were rocking period. How was Student Teacher surprisingly rocking, if I'd never heard of them before? Because judging by lead Student Teacher Daniel's (I can't find his last name anywhere on the 'Net) unassuming demeanor when he asked me before the show if I was in a San Fransisco shoegaze band called Permanent Collection, (well, I definitely see the resemblance between myself and Jason Henhardy .....), I did not think the utter anarchic sonic destruction that spewed from his quartet could have emanated from someone like him; never judge a book by its cover, as the age old adage goes. Ignorant me. Indeed, Student Teacher was the most melodically discordant force I'd heard since Sonic Youth - such control, although the only thing over which Student Teacher didn't have control was volume. The band was so damned picky about volume. They must have asked for more volume on the guitars and vocals and then less volume on the guitars after every song. They're lucky they're so damned good that they can afford to be so picky.

And finally, there were Beach Fossils. Usually, opening acts don't get to "outshine" headliners in terms of volume, and I didn't think loudness befitted Beach Fossils anyway, so I thought, "There's no way Beach Fossils are going to be louder than Student Teacher." And I was correct. Even though Beach Fossils were leaps and bounds beyond how fast and furious I thought they would have been, they still couldn't touch the sheer blistering volume of Student Teacher.

On record, it wouldn't be a far cry to call Beach Fossils intimate bedroom pop with a grainy texture like the damp remains of sifted detritus. Live, however, they are just an energetic indie rock band - straight-up. No bollocks. "You guys can move around more; it's okay," frontperson Dustin Payseur politely yet playfully encouraged the audience before launching into another jumpy, rousing version of a song from their self-titled debut album (their only full-length to date), swaying, spinning and kicking in jolty, erratic movements. The band rocked with such abandon that the members stumbled into each other and their equipment, specifically birthday boy Tommy Gardner's drum set. There were a few moments when I thought John Pena was going to scrape off my face with the head of his bass (which was tuned so sharply, it sounded like a third guitar) while he was spinning around onstage. Even though Beach Fossils seemed to have missed a lot of notes here and there, the energy they brought more than made up for it.

So, I didn't get the show I expected, but every part of it was great. Okay, as usual, I do have at least one minor complaint: Both Student Teacher and Beach Fossils stopped at least one song because they screwed up. In all the shows I've seen, this was the only time I could ever remember a band restarting a song. It doesn't seem particularly rock 'n' roll to restart a song instead of just covering or rolling with the mistake. But then, "I'm not a musician or performer, so what do I know?" Right?

Closing note: I bring elastic bands to shows now. It just makes snatching and carrying set lists easier. How rock 'n' roll is that? And here I am complaining about bands restarting songs. And I brought exactly enough elastic bands to Beach Fossils/Seapony/Student Teacher: two. I'm two-for-two for Seapony set lists. My set list wall just grows and grows with every show. ROCK! \m/

Saturday, May 12, 2012

New Azealia Banks Track "Jumanji"

From her upcoming mixtape Fantastic. I love her more and more:

Friday, May 11, 2012

Holy Fuck-Crap

Long-buzzed about Vancouver punk trio NĂ¼ Sensae is opening for Best Coast in a couple of weeks. I'll finally get to see NĂ¼ Sensae after having missed the band several times:

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Post-Punk/Twee-Pop/New Wave For Life

May 8, 2012
The Venue

Vancouver, British Columbia

I made a new life rule after I saw the Drums with Craft Spells two nights ago: Go to every slightly post-punk, New Wave and twee show, dreamy or not, I can find. Craft Spells and the Drums were probably the closest I'll ever get to seeing a band like so many of my favourite 80s groups including Orange Juice and Modern English - maybe not ever but definitely for a long time - so I can't afford to pass up seeing similar bands. Luckily for me, I'm seeing Seapony again on Friday when they open for Beach Fossils at the Electric Owl.

Craft Spells alone, of whom I'd never heard before the show, totally made the one-and-a-half-hour wait before showtime worthwhile (Part Time, the second opening band, couldn't make it that night. Problems with customs, I assume, hence the prolonged wait). However, I didn't move much during Craft Spells, despite how much I wanted to. I mean, the band was fantastic, but that long wait, which didn't factor in the time I spent in transit or in line outside the Venue, on top of having worked at 6:30 that morning and until 9:30 the night before that, almost sucked the life out of me. Plus, I was on my feet for almost two hours straight before the show began, so by the time the Drums started playing, my legs and back had gotten pretty tired; my legs felt like tree trunks with roots that ran to China.

As soon as the Drums hit the stage, though, they lit me right up. I couldn't stop moving when they came on, they were so fun. They even made the slightly plaintive "Days" danceable. It's interesting how quickly great music - pleasurable stimulation of the mind that gets those that serotonin flowing - can make the body forget how tired and even sore it is.

Front-person Jonathan Pierce's live off-kilter singing was the main reason why I passed on seeing the Drums last October (if you want to hear why it bugs me, just YouTube pretty much any live videos of the Drums, although I did recently find a few videos in which I could not only tolerate Jon's singing but enjoy it as well). But I had absolutely no complaints about his singing when I saw them, even though it was still more affected than on record.

At one point during the show, Jonathan apologized for not having had his dancing shoes with him because they got held up at customs. But even while sporting his Chucks, he was able to sway and swing and shake his hips with so much swagger that I didn't notice his alleged handicap. And danced Jonathan did through the Drums' pretty lengthy set: sixteen songs, according to the set list I snagged, which included all of their hits with "Let's Go Surfing" saved as the final encore.

All in all, a fantastic show. Both bands sounded great, especially Craft Spells who totally blew me away; I'd never heard of them before, but that night, I could hear every part of them: every note and every reverberation. I also got their set list. Schwing! And as far as my promise to myself goes, you can bet I'm never missing a Drums show again. And Craft Spells are from Seattle, so I have a feeling I haven't seen the last of them.

Random final note: While there was an average number of guys at the show, not a lot of fellas dig dancing to the Drums, it seemed ... In fact, one of the guys who stood next to me looked like he was going to fall asleep on his feet at any minute, his eyes half-closed every time I saw him.

I Want To Hear Jack White Cover This Song NOW.

"Silver Chain" by former Birthday Party guitarist Rowland S. Howard already sounds a lot like "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" by Cher which the Raconteurs cover. So, do it, Jack:

Friday, May 4, 2012

An Emphatic "Fuck You" To Every Brian Jonestown Massacre Fan Who Makes a Game out of Pissing off Anton.

It's assholes like you - specifically the ones in Vancouver - that cost people like me the chance to see them. Newsflash: Heroin isn't the only thing that's passé; heckling Anton is too. The BJM were tentatively scheduled to play the Media Club last night. At least Anton had the good grace to not pocket people's money before canceling without refunds this time:

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Go For a Walk.

Listen to this song. Feel lifted. Just listen to those vast, expansive drums, and try not to walk with your head held high. May require ignoring the lyrics, though:

I Invite You To the Party of My Mind


I know(?) someone who gets me into shit like this all the time, and it's ALWAYS at least this great. All of it. "Party of the Mind" comes from British post-punks the Sounds' 1982 third album All Fall Down.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

"We Enter This World with a Remarkably Sophisticated Grasp of Music.

Tests have shown that a baby's nervous system arrives pre-equipped to form a musical grammar. Babies can recognize and remember tunes, display a preference for consonance over dissonance, and even identify individual scales and chords. These results suggest to scientists that the perception of music is an evolutionary ancient neutral skill, not some by-product of more recent cognitive processes. Music, and our sense of what it sounds like, begins as a way to comprehend the world around us - to recognize patterns and make accurate predictions about what comes next, for example - and survives as something we can enjoy for its own sake. Music is first a means to form a worldview, to represent the world, to ponder and study it - to 'record' it. Only later does it become 'music.'"

- Greg Milner, "Perfecting Sound Forever": An Aural History of Recorded Music (Faber and Faber, Inc., 2009)

Is All Robyn This Good?



If so, damn, I've been severely missing out. I heard "Dancing on My Own" on the closing scene of the latest episode of Girls, the same episode that included songs by LCD Soundsystem and Best Coast. The show has also featured music by Feist and THE FUCKING TROGGS. Definitely a winner on the music-front.

Intangible X

Another one of those "I didn't know music could sound like this" songs. Mad 80s:

Mad Jack by The Chameleons on Grooveshark

Thank You, Frank Zappa,

For introducing me to the Plastics:

Jack White - "Hypocritical Kiss"

I tried reviewing Blunderbuss, but the way it was heading, I was going to end up with another thesis. So here's "Hypocritical Kiss," probably my favourite song from the album. No frills, no solos, not even any electric guitars; just good God-damned song-writing:

Hypocritical Kiss by Jack White on Grooveshark