Live Gig:Klaxons:20.10.07

With an overabundance of day glo hipsters converging on the Forum Theatre on Saturday night, I have to admit I was dubious. Though I have been singing the praises of the Klaxons for months to anyone willing to listen, there is still an niggling feeling that at 25 I am too old for them. And seeing the crowd on Saturday night didn’t help.

Nevertheless, as I settled in between two flock of seagulls haircuts I felt the usual usual excitement and anticipation welling up. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait around too long after the easily forgettable support band.

From the moment they came onstage to the moment they departed the show was indeed entertaining. There were typical moments of vocal weakness, but all in all they sounded really tight and succinct , which was a nice surprise after reading so much about how bad they are live. (In particular Noel Gallagher’s comments describing them as “F*cking shocking”, not that I really take advice from Noel Gallagher, though if it was a toss up between him & Liam, it would be him. But I digress…)

The crowd seemed sufficiently pleased. Playing most of their songs off their debut album ‘Myths of the Near Future’, the band gave them plenty of opportunity for crowd singalong. The overall length of the show was a little on the short side, with the band clocking in an hour tops, including encore, but that could probably come down to a lack of songs.

All in all, it was great fun, and I would highly recommend checking them out if you get the chance.

 

Please Note:

Here is an interesting article from the New Yorker about the disapearance of rythmn in Rock.

 

Ok Consumer

The hot topic of the music world at the moment is that Radiohead have decided to release their seventh studio album In Rainbows on the internet.  The general idea is that in order to download the album, people will pay the band what they deem reasonable, even if that’s nothing at all.So far, by today, approximately 1.2 million copies of the album have been downloaded, with the average payment being around 4 pounds, or $9.00.

So what is the deal with this arrangement?  Is it going to work, and will the band come out of it with a decent amount of money?  I admit I don’t really know how much profit a band sees at the end of the day once eveyone has their cut, but anecdotally, I’ve heard it’s around $1 or $2.  Therefore, you would think they’re on to a good thing, even if a lot of people don’t pay for the album.

Radiohead are by no means a small band, they have a huge fanbase of some extremely loyal fans.  So although a lot of people will jump at paying nothing, there will probably be enough who will fork over a few pounds out of guilt.  In addition, they have struck a goldmine of publicity.  Leading up to the launch of the album, I must have read at least three articles anticipating the public’s reactions to the band’s plans.

I do wonder though if this stunt will in any way overshadow the musical side of things.  I can’t say that I’ve read anything that has talked about the quality of the album itself.  This album has been a long time coming, and although I did enjoy parts of Thom Yorke’s solo effort The Eraser, I admit I’m a bit sceptical that Radiohead are still relevant.

I better get downloading and find out..To get in on the action, go here.

 

Once

As I can, I shall hijack dear Kentuckys blog for a moment to urge, nay, hmm… yes, urge, you to go and see Once. Its a dear little Irish film starring Glen Hasard of the Frames and Marketa Irglova of… Well, they released an album called “The Swell Season” together last year. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this film, made by former Frames bass player John Carney, and think you should go and see it. Its dimly lit, and very arty, but just a fantastic little little boy meets girl film. It’s not a traditional musical but follows the song-writing journey of a coupe of musicians who meet on the street, fix a vacuum cleaner and then record a demo. Brilliant musical performances, such as the impassioned rendition of ‘Say it to me Now’ whilst busking in front of an alley, or a the demoing of ‘When your minds made up’ in a recording studio make this a sensation little film. I like it even more every time I think about it.

 

!!!Exclamation Marks!!!

When I was a teenager my sister was kind enough to introduce me to Built to Spill, specifically through a tape of The Normal Years. She insisted that I would like it, however I wasn’t totally hooked and the tape sat in my then extensive tape collection gathering dust. A couple years later, when watching Rage, I saw the clip for You Were Right and was immediately hooked.

When I finally graduated to CD format I went to local record store Dada Records to buy a copy of Perfect From Now On. When I got to the counter, the guy behind the counter approved of my purchase by commenting, “Perfect from now on really describes their sound doesn’t it?”. Mumbling some reply I grabbed my purchase and got out of there asap.

It seems like Built to Spill are often referred to as “A band’s band”. What that means I don’t really know. What I do know is that no other band (bar Pavement) has the power to make me feel so nostalgic for such a bad time (mid nineties- and I refer to teenage years).

I have never seen them perform live, and haven’t listened to them in a few months, but when I heard they were gracing our shores, I could scarcely contain my excitment.

Here as a part of the Falls Festival, Built to Spill are also doing a few side shows.

Check the site for details, in Melbourne the gig is at The Corner Hotel on December 29.

 

No Saint

St Vincent has been getting  a lot of attention lately, presumably for her ties to critic’s darling Sufjan Stevens.  While it’s true St Vincent’s Annie Clark does share some qualities with Sufjan Stevens, namely creating songs that are whimsical & sweet and singing in a range slighly too high for her, she definitely stands on her own two feet.

Introduced to St Vincent through my housemate recently, I am quite enjoying her debut album, Marry Me. Her voice seems at times a little too doe-eyed, which is something that has always irked me (such as Isobel from Belle & Sebastian– or lets just say Belle & Sebastian in general) but she does it in a way that seems very fresh and a little dark.

From Tulsa, Oklahoma, St Vincent is already a seasoned performer, having also played with the Polyphonic Spree. Worth a listen.

 

And Another Thing…lets talk about Emos

  

Emo’s searching for somewhere they’ll be understood

 Upon trawling the recessing of Internet news (ok, just the The Age online), I came accross another post devoted to all things Emo and people’s feelings about the trend, lifestyle, whatever.

I thought since my own “Do Emo Punks Deserve Respect” post has gotten a lot of feedback, it might be of interest.  Have a look here.

 

Not just a city in Lebanon

If, like me, you were a big fan of Beirut‘s 2006 album Gulag Orkestar (see this post for more) then you’ll be overjoyed to hear that just over a year later, Zach Condon aka Beirut, is releasing his second album.

Due to come out October 9, The Flying Club Cup is Beirut’s second full length album.

Condon & band are currently touring North America & Europe.

 

The Future is Unwritten

 

I love a good music documentary. So it was with great interest that I read about this upcomming film about Joe Stummer‘s musical career.

The film documents Strummer’s work & life from the formation of The Clash to his work with his band The Mescaleros.

I’m gonna take a punt and say that if you were a fan of The Filth & The Fury, a docco about the Sex Pistols and Live Forever, you might want to check it out.

Watch the Preview here

 

Rediscovering Old ‘faves

One of the most exciting things for me as a music enthusiast is re-discovering old favourites. Recently I was given a copy of Modest Mouse’s Building Nothing out of Something, a compliation of singles, b-sides & rare tracks from their early days.

What makes the discovery even sweeter is that it takes me back to Modest Mouse’s yelly, kind of whiney lyrical style of the nineties. Although I have enjoyed We Were Dead before the Ship Even Sank, and to a lesser extent, Good News for People Who Love Bad News, I can’t help but get a little nostalgic for the days when Isaac Brock was really fucked up.

If you haven’t, I recommend checking it out. Also other MM highlights would have to be This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About and my favourite, The Moon & Antartica.

Also, if you are a Modest Mouse fan, you might also enjoy Ugly Casanova, Isaac Brock’s other band.