Yo La Tengo @ Maxwell's - Dec 05, 2007

Hanukkah

Excuse me but I didn't know what Hanukkah meant. It took me to go out with an Israeli guy to remember about the Hanukkah miracle and the candles themselves. I know I read it before in the Bible once, but my memory is getting worst and worst with time. Oh Well. In any case, Yo La Tengo played a stellar show for the fourth day of Hanukkah, one that I'm never gonna forget.


Out of all the Yo La Tengo catalog I only know, from beginning to end, the latest I am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass, which is not a bad introduction to the band at all. From that album they played the excellent Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind, The Weakest Part and Beanbag Chair. This was the third time I see them live, and as before, I left the venue thinking I need to get some more YLT albums... for my own sake! They are the kind of band that deserves it.


These Hanukkah shows are very special. Yo La Tengo play almost different sets every night, have different underground praised opening bands, and on top of that play a handful of covers with even more special guests. That's a lot of specials right there. I remember Ira making one third of my night singing a rocky Heroin by the Velvet Underground, Georgia the second third by singing a beautiful song I don't know and the final third with Alex Chilton, of Big Star, singing Femme Fatale for the band. I am amazed at how little I know about classic music sometimes... for instance I thought that Femme Fatale was original by Duran Duran and so it surprised me seeing that Yo La Tengo was covering it. How fool I am. Wikipedia is enlightening me by letin me know it is original by the Velvet Underground, which makes now a lot of sense.

I'll keep learning. [photos of the show]

♫♫♫♫♪

Were you at the show? How did you like it?

Yo La Tengo links: Hanukkah 2007 Diary, Stream I am Not Afraid Of You and I Will Beat Your Ass, Official Website, Wikipedia, MySpace, at Matador Records

Bright Eyes @ Radio City Music Hall - Nov 19, 2007

What is simple in the moonlight by the morning never is

I have a mixed appreciation of Bright Eyes. I recently started liking Conor Oberst's music a lot (starting with his new release Cassadaga and now prefering I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning) and decided to buy a ticket to go to see him at a big venue like Radio City, even though I don't enjoy places like that anymore. What really got me into Bright Eyes' music were Conor's voice, his lyrics and the way he sings them, more than the melody of his songs, so a show in a huge place with a sound system destroying his deliver most of the time and a guitar too often too loud was quite a let down. Having so many fans, with Bright Eyes there's no escape and I don't think there will be. What's gonna be next? Madison Square Garden? Unless they have an exclusive show at Bowery Ballroom and I happen to score a ticket without investing all my salary on it, this might have been the first and the last time that I get to see them then. So where are the mixed feelings? Since I came back from the show on Monday, I haven't been able to stop playing the only two albums I have by them, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and Cassadaga. They keep getting better and better in my headphones... during the show I don't know what happened but some of these songs were just plain boring to hear them live. Was it really the venue's size what didn't let me appreciate the show? or actually Bright Eyes is just boring sometimes?


Conor showed up dressing like one of the thousands of fans waiting for him, not in white as everybody expected, and with shorter hair than what I'd seen recently advertised on the web. He grabbed his acoustic guitar, put his knees together leaving some space between his feet and started a show with a ferocious Another Traveling Song. Taking about ferocious, have you seen him spitting? Man, he almost does it as many times as Cole, of the Black Lips fame... good that his band mates don't mind it cause the guy's spit sometimes flies way too long.

Well, I think a found the reason. I just found a set list of the show over the comments in Brooklynvegan and it's helping me to understand why I was spacing out most of the show. Here it is:

Another Traveling Song
Four Winds
We Are Nowhere And Its Now
You Will
Arc Of Time
Method Acting
Spring Cleaning
If The Brakeman Turns My Way
Bowl Of Oranges
Lua
Poison Oak
Old Soul Song
A Song To Pass The Time
-Encore-
Lover I Dont Have To Love
True
Blue Walls (Tom Petty Cover)
Rosevelts Room

Ten of his sixteen songs are not on the only two albums I have, which are presumably his two best ones. Are the other albums he has that good and representative of his music to him that he decides to use some songs from those as the heart of his show? Anyways, he lost me right there for at least 30 minutes of those ten songs. I can only give a personal opinion, as someone who doesn't really know this artist: the show wasn't great. In fact, forgetting how much I like the original six songs that I knew, and considering that I go to tons of shows where I have no idea of the music I am about to hear, I think it wasn't good overall, even considering what I am experiencing right now, which is that Oberst's music is on the grower side. I did enjoy those six songs tho, especially Poison Oak, but it was because I did like them already, not because it was particularly special to hear them live.

You know what? I'm just very confused or just very upset that he didn't play First Day of My Life, a song that after playing and playing it so many times these days still gives me chills. Truth is, I shouldn't have started writing this... it went and it's going nowhere. [photos of the show]

♫♫♫♪

Were you at the show? How did you like it?

Bright Eyes links: Stream Cassadaga, Live at KCRW, Official Website, YouTube, MySpace, Wikipedia

My Brightest Diamond @ Gramercy Theatre - Nov 17, 2007

The 11 finger tour

I still remember how impressed I was with Shara Worden and her band My Brightest Diamond back when I saw her for the first time during CMJ 2006. She had recently put out her excellent debut album Bring Me the Workhorse, showed us how amazingly she can control her voice and how good she is at the guitar. Last night she excelled at all those things one more time and even showed us how to dance.


I got late to the show. I usually do not talk about shows I don't see in its entirety, but I am going to make an exception here. I hope I didn't miss either the best or the worst part tho, cause I don't want to give wrong impressions, but what I saw were 40 minutes of pure magic made a woman playing guitar, with cool hairstyle, a dress made by the 11 finger dresser and a killer band including a full string section with a couple of energetic bass and drum players.

Shara Worden's voice is classically trained and she is very smart for matching it with the kind of rock she plays. Or it might be the other way around tho, since she is so skilled. Her music, to me, is like a mix of indie rock, opera and sometimes even soft metal, but you gotta see her to get the full effect and fall in love forever not only with her music and voice, but actually with her. In one of those moments between songs she told us that her tour mate, Tim Fite, who I unfortunately missed, named the tour as the 11 finger tour because her dress looked like a regular dress made by a person with eleven fingers. It was because of that eleven finger that her dress looked like one with little things here and there. Cute, but now that I think about it I don't remember seeing anything particularly strange on her dress. In fact I don't think I even looked at her dress... I just looked at her smile.


My Brightest Diamond played Bring Me the Workhorse almost in its enterity, including the beautiful Something of an End, Golden Star, Dragon Fly, We Were Sparkling, Magic Rabbit and Dissappear, plus a very good new song, a cover of a Jeff Buckley's song (it was his birthday), and a killer encore with a song in French. Did you know that Shara released an album with remixes of Bring me the Workhorse called Tear it Down? After seeing her for the second time, it was obvious how Shara has been letting some other music genres to relax her music and sometimes even not only highlight its beauty but make it a lot of fun. Dissappear is the best example. After an excellent interpretation, her band kept playing the song while Shara put her guitar aside, faced us all from the center of the stage for two seconds with a look of warn, and started moving like the best dancer Missy Elliott is gonna hire for her next video. Oliver, one of the guys playing strings, joined her and they pretty much gave us fire.


Shara, please keep them coming like that cause I got hooked one more time. [photos of the show]

♫♫♫♫♪

Were you at the show? How did you like it?

My Brightest Diamond links: Stream Bring Me the Workhorse, Live at SXSW 2007, Official website, MySpace, At Asthmatic Records, At Daytrotter

Marissa Nadler @ Whitney Museum - Nov 16, 2007

Bird

Here I am again with an incomplete review... I got late to the Whitney Museum to hear the velveteen voice of Marissa Nadler. I missed a good half of her show, but thanks to YouTube now I can not only imagine how beautiful she sounded. Here it is one of those songs that I missed accompanied by Myles Baer in theremin.

Marissa Nadler - 55 Falls


I only know her recent album, Songs III: Bird on Water, and here it is one of the stand out tracks on that album (there are plenty):

Marissa Nadler - Rachel


Anyway, I definitely missed those two songs cause I do not remember Myles Baer helping with theremin but adding some bass guitar. But, what I did not miss was a perfect amalgamation of Bruce Springsteen's I'm on Fire with Townes Van Zandt's Tecumseh Valley and her own song My Little Lark (from The Saga of Mayflower).

Marissa Nadler - I'm on Fire (Original by Bruce Springsteen) / Tecumseh Valley (Original by Townes Van Zandt) / My Little Lark


I promise I will be on time next time. [photos of the show]

Marissa Nadler links: Stream two songs at Kemado Records, Interviewed by Stereogum, At Daytrotter, Official website, MySpace, Wikipedia

Jens Lekman at Webster Hall / Music Hall of Williamsburg - Oct 27/28, 2007

Sipping on the Sweet Nectar

It's been two weeks since I went to see The Go! Team and fall in love with Jens Lekman. I went to the city to see The Go! Team after having dinner with some friends, but things didn't happen as planned. My friends wanted to go to the Blue Man Show, which I couldn't afford because it was 80 bucks, and meanwhile I decided to check out a guy called Jens Lekman who was going to play Webster Hall for only 20. In fact, I ended up getting in for free and being blown away by Lekman's charisma , music and voice.


Jens took the stage with a six girl band and one DJ all dressed in white with Jens looking particularly like a chef about to season our hearts. He plays guitar and sings with a very romantic baritone, the girls play different instruments, including saxo, accordion, trumpet, violins and drums, and the DJ is there to sample live all those samples Jens has included in his recordings. I didn't know his music much, except a couple of songs from his new album, but I felt like I had heard his music all my life before. I don't mean that like some people accuse him, of being just a guy ripping off people's stuff, but I do mean it in the sense that it was so comfortable listening to him that it felt like his music had been with me all the time and I instantaneously wanted to enjoy it. Now, I can't stop listening to his excellent new album Night Falls Over Kortedala and his very good compilation of EPs called Oh You're So Silent Jens.

In fact, I liked him so much that when I got home and started listening to the album I bought, I found out he was playing again the next day at the Music Hall of Williamsburg as a solo show. A funny guy, with music that makes me feel warm in these soon to be very cold nights? Of course I had to see him again.


His cool personality was on hand again in Brooklyn for a crowd that had to be full of good fans, as I noticed how everybody knew all his songs in detail. They were pretty much filling in his songs the sampled chorus he didn't completely have that night. He almost played solo, except for some help from his drummer playing the bongos, some backing vocals coming from an iPod, and a loop pedal he admitted not to be an Andrew Bird kind of expert with it. If he was awesome at Webster Hall, he was even awesomer at Music Hall. Jens played more songs, took requests from the public, played a couple of covers including You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon, and was as hilarious as I expected him to be, again.

My favorite song of the whole weekend was A Postcard to Nina (with Pocketful of Money very very close), which is on Night Falls Over Kortedala. Jens introduces that song so well live that every time I listen to it on my CD player, without the intro, I wish I could hear him again talking about him visiting Germany, going to an awkward dinner and feeling his dad's friend's drunk breath way too close. It would have been your favorite song I am sure. But my favorite moment of the weekend didn't happen at Webster Hall, nor at Music Hall. It happened on the roof of 151 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn NY, an address I will hardly forget. After Jens finished his set the second time I saw him during the weekend, he went over to a fan's building to play some more songs while over viewing the city. I didn't really appreciate I had a great view from this guy's roof, because who would be looking at something different from Jens?, but I did enjoy his voice and company while eating some pizza and having some beers his fans kindly brought to share with everybody else. Oh man, it would have been your favorite moment of the weekend I am sure too.


Jens opens his mouth, says whatever, or even just without saying anything but smiling, and everybody follows laughing/smiling. That's how a Jens Lekman's show is. Awesome! I am sure because of him there were new couples in town those nights, new friends (I made one), and lots of people went home with a smile of their own to dream.

So yeah, that was it. I had an unforgettable weekend with Jens Lekman. How was yours? [photos of the show @ Webster Hall][photos of the show @ Music Hall of Williamsburg]

♫♫♫♫♫

Were you at the show? How did you like it?

Jens Lekman links: At NPR, Official Website, Pitchfork interviews Jens, Indiepop.it interviews Jens, A video interview, Wikipedia, at Secretly Canadian

The Go! Team at Bowery Ballroom - Oct 27, 2007

The Power is On

Ian Parton, founder of The Go! Team, should consider himself very lucky. I read he is pretty much responsible of the music, samplings and stuff, but I don't know what he could have done to pull all that off in concert if he hadn't met Ninja ever.


Live, The Go! Team are really a team, switching instruments and places on stage, but it is Ninja who steals your attention... she is that "!" that makes them The Go! Team and not only The Go Team. When she is not on stage, letting her other two girl band mates to sing, you miss her. When she fakes she has broken her knee, you feel it too and get worried. When she dances ridiculously or not, you follow her... she makes you don't even care you are at the Bowery Ballroom with the cool people and don't feel embarrassed about doing it. I hadn't seen so many hands up in the air there by request of the artist, like ever.

Thunder, Lightning, Strike might be one of the best albums of this 00's and yesterday live, together with their new Proof of Youth, sounded even better. Besides how awesome their sound already is, we enjoyed Ian playing harmonica and Ninja singing all (?) the sampled vocals. This is what the Team played for us:

The Power is On
We Just Won't Be Defeated
Panther Dash
Wrath of Marcie
Fake ID
Grip Like a Vice
A Version of Myself
Junior Kickstart
Bottle Rocket
Everyone's a VIP to Someone
Flashlight Fight
Ladyflash
Huddle Information
Titanic Vandalism
----------
Doing it Right
Keys to the City


As you can guess, The Team doesn't play 30 minute sets anymore... this one was at least 1h 20m of pure celebration. I thought I knew how to have fun... [photos of the show]

♫♫♫♫♪

Were you at the show? How did you like it?

The Go! Team Links: Youtube (Recommended), Official Website, MySpace, Wikipedia, Memphis

Curtains On does CMJ 2007: New Violators / Baby Dayliner / Dragons of Zynth / Georgie James / Prof. Murder / Harlem Shakes @ Mercury Lounge - 10/20/07

Professor Murder tries new material

Playing your CMJ show the last day of the marathon cannot be easy. You know everybody is tired and very little patient so you gotta show your best asap. I decided to head early to Mercury Lounge to make sure I wasn't going to be left out to see Professor Murder, so I got there by 7 pm and stayed until 1 am. Fortunately Professor Murder, my most anticipated show of the night, wasn't the only good thing I got to see.

New Violators were first and had a decent crowd at the Lounge for a 7 pm show. Their music sometimes sound like U2 to me, or Bono more precisely, and as soon as they shake that off in their songs they sound not only original but better. The singer's look easily reminds you David Bowie but the comparisons stop right there. I really appreciated the drummer's skills... they sometimes sounded to me like the very noticeable drums in the new Shocking Pinks album. I sympathized with them just because of the fact that they made their way from Denmark to the States just to play a 35 minute show, so let me say that even though they don't need what I am about to say, because they should be about to pop up (if they haven't already), I wish them good luck.

New Violators

The next band was called Baby Dayliner and by the time they were supposed to start, 8 pm, only one person was on stage getting ready a computer and plugging in a microphone. I thought the band was going to lose some of their time but the music started right on time... the band was only this guy crooning (and sometimes sort of rapping) on top of a track played by iTunes. I felt I was in a Karaoke show, except that the singer was good and the songs were actually his. As Jamie Lidell's take on soul music is new in the sense of being adventurous, Baby Dayliner's is new in the sense of being ironic... good ironic.

Baby Dayliner

Then I saw TV on the Radio. Wait, right, TV on the Radio was not playing CMJ. Dragons of Zynth was the band playing. Their image and, most of the time, their music, didn't really let me enjoy them because of this unavoidable comparison to the Brooklyn favorites. Sometimes they did, but for being new music I am not interested.

Dragons of Zynth

I was getting sleepy so I had to buy a drink. Scotch. The next band didn't help... Georgie James. First of all, a recommendation from a guy that knows absolutely nothing: stop adding the "ex - Q and not U" to your name every time you announce a show... it's cheesy. Q and not U fans surely know who you were if you were good, and if you were not you don't really want to remind them that. They were not bad, but not great either... just all right. Q and not U... I mean, Georgie James... you see it's confusing me already. Anyway, Georgie James' indie pop was effective to me while it sounded, but forgettable right after. Especially knowing that right after Professor Murder was going to take the stage...

Georgie James

So this is CMJ, right? and CMJ is about new music, right? Out of all the bands that I already knew their music who were playing this week, Professor Murder and Islands were the only ones in my list that took seriously CMJ for what it is for, previewing new music. Michael Bell-Smith, the one below with the gym whistle hanging from his neck, announced the show was called Professor Murder tries new material, and he was serious. The only old song they played, Free Stress Test, was the one they use to close their set to have their old time fans happy, but for the rest of the time previewd new song hitting toms, cowbells, tambourines, drums and played bass, keyboards and a drum machine covering big ground in such a small time without feeling in a rush or overambitious.

People three rows towards the back were barely moving so I guess they hadn't experienced a Professor show before. I hope they liked it. I did and enjoyed the new material, especially the killer Dutch Hex that live kicked ass as much as when I heard it for the first time three months ago. So, when is the album coming out?

Professor Murder

I was ready to go to Brooklyn Vegan after party (with Professor Murder's three guys playing as King Oppression), but the concert goers I met wanted to check out The Harlem Shakes, so I stayed for a bit. Although didn't listen to the whole set for stepping in and out trying to buy a t-shirt and a drink, what I heard was pretty good, particularly the singer with an interesting high hoarse voice, and the guitarist's energy. They had a big crowd of fans and they semt to be happy with the effect their songs were having on them. I'll give them a shot another day again...

The Harlem Shakes

But I wanted more Professor Murder... I've never have enough of them. Their Rides the Subway EP is short, but fantastic, so I play it severeal times consecutively. Their live show is short too, of course, they only have one EP and like three or four new songs. So when BV announced he was having an unofficial CMJ after party with King Oppression (three guys out of four from Professor Murder) playing different versions of Professor Murder material, I could not miss out. The party was excellent, including a guy called David Sugar, King Oppression and Brooklyn Vegan himself just by walking around...

David Sugar

King Oppression

I hope you had a happy CMJ! I know once I have enough rest I am gonna miss it... until 2008. [photos of the show]

Curtains On does CMJ 2007: Saturday Looks Good to Me / Islands @ R-Bar, Cool Kids / M.I.A. @ Terminal 5, Band of Horses @ Gramercy Theatre - 10/19/07

Bamboo Banga

My energy is almost gone. It gets tougher and tougher to appreciate bands that don't really give it back to me. I went to the Brooklyn Vegan free shows in the late afternoon at R-Bar to see Islands before going to M.I.A., but I was forced to see Saturday Looks Good to Me first cause they were running late. They were not really good. I mean, they were fine, but not really anything to remember. They have two singers, a guy and a girl, and if you hear them you can tell me if you agree that the girl should sing more... that was the only real interesting sound I picked up from them. For the rest, they were the kind of band not really transmitting any sort of energy to me and instead taking it away. It's then when you wonder if you are going to too many shows and getting tired for no reason...

Saturday Looks Good To Me

.. but then Islands came on to take that wonder away... it's never too many shows. I know of Islands because of a good album they released in 2006, Return to the Sea. I sometimes listened to it, by recommendation, although it didn't really click on me, but now after seeing them live and hearing the great stuff they have ready for their new album I am looking forward to keep checking them out. I am not good for accents but while seeing them, I don't know why, I though they had to be Canadian... Wikipedia is confirming so. Maybe because they sounded to me like a way better Hot Hot Heat. An energetic front man, funny guys in the violins and keyboards, good saxophone and an interesting guest dropping verses for a song pumped me up and got me right on track to keep up with the day:

Islands

It was my first time at the new venue Terminal 5. It might be as big as Roseland Ballroom, which I try to avoid, but it doesn't feel like it. The venue has three floors and the view from each floor, from the balconies, is not bad at all. Sound was also good enough for me, so in general no complains from this side... maybe the location, in the middle of nowhere (56th St and almost the Hudson river). I saw the Cool Kids from the balconies opening for M.I.A.. I can count with my hand fingers the number of hip hop acts I've enjoyed live since I became a concert goer and these guys are not one of them. I dig their recorded stuff, but live they were merely OK. Still this video (and song) kicks ass...

The Cool Kids

And then, after painful 45 minutes, the place exploded with Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, aka M.I.A..Last time I missed out with M.I.A. tickets for her Studio B show I regretted it for long, so when I saw that she was going to play CMJ I didn't care the show was going to be at a bigger venue. Kala is one of my contenders for album of the year and last night M.I.A. held the guns up for it. M.I.A.'s music is so diverse and has so many influences that is no wonder why the place was packed with real people: Black people, Hispanos, Chineses, Skaters, Suites, White people, gays, lesbians, and straights. It felt like a world party, and in fact I think that M.I.A. is pretty much like a modern world music ready to take over.

After a funny speech on video from an Asian guy talking about destroying the government, that was way too long, the set started with the song it had to start with: Bamboo Banga. That track opens Kala and it is such a banger that it was the perfect choice to make everybody meltdown together right from the beginning, and it worked... the floor bounced for the first time out of too many I didn't count. M.I.A. came out, after Cherry, her backup singer, looking gorgeous in one of her crazy looking outfits. She soon wore her symbolic hat... ready to command the party ship:

M.I.A.

We got all the hits, and by that I mean all of her songs, plus some nice samplings. From Arular we had Pull Up the People, Bucky Done Gun, Amazon, 10 Dollar, Sunshowers, and of course the one everybody goes crazy for, including myself, Galang. Kala sounded strong in the house too with Bamboo Banga, Bird Flu, Boyz, Jimmy, Hussel (with Afrikan Boy), $20 and Paper Planes (did she play World Town and XR2? I'm not sure). Besides covering Pixies' Where Is My Mind, M.I.A. this time nicely sampled the classic Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams right before 10 Dollar and the ultra-classic New Order's Blue Monday to introduce Jimmy and new comer Lil Mama's Lip Gloss right before Galang. I was sold.

M.I.A.

I planned not to write much stuff this week cause it's already demanding just going to so many shows but I can't stop with this one. Bird Flu was fantastic. She invited everybody on stage, something I knew it was going to happen, but what I didn't know is that I was going to be so pumped up to want to make my way to the front and swing it for her on stage like forty some more. When she finished with Galang everybody was soaked and though we were ready to call it a night, a couple more songs didn't hurt. In fact, the encore ruled. She did Amazon and it was kind of funny... she only sang Helloooo this is M.I.A.... would you please come and get me and never Helloooo this is M.I.A.... it's ok if you forgot me... because there's no way someone could that night.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That was supposed to be my CMJ Day 4, but M.I.A. gave me so much energy that I was ready to keep hitting shows. We tried A Place to Bury Strangers but got to Galapagos too late and then we headed to Band of Horses playing a show for CMJ badge holders and guest list only. We don't have a badge, we were not on the guest list, but we made it in anyway... yes, we rule.

I saw Band of Horses playing one of the best shows I've seen being played by them. Ben Bridwell was on top with his voice as he hadn't been before and look surprisingly in a good mood given that that most of the attendees were a bunch of assholes. I am sorry but I don't understand all you CMJ holders, as music fans, how you go to these exclusive shows to waste the feet square you are occupying with your presence there... please go to the bar across the street and chat with your buddies there! I bet it would be less annoying for you (and hence for me, as a music fan) not to hear the band meanwhile. Jeez. Anyway, Band Of Horses was excellent and the perfect way of calming down the night to send us back home to dream.

Band Of Horses

Ok. I am ready for CMJ Day 5, the last one. [photos of the show]

Links: Stream M.I.A. - Kala, Stream Band of Horses - Everything All the Time

Curtains On does CMJ 2007: Foreign Islands / Project Jenny, Project Jan @ Hiro, SMD @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, NYPC @ Studio B - 10/18/07

Brooklyn

CMJ Day 3 main attractions didn't happen in Manhattan last night... everybody was in Brooklyn. If you are having a showcase during this week, and several more labels are doing the same, the same day and at the same times with more buzzed names than your bands you better have something else to attract more eardrums... like free cover, free food and more importantly... open bar.

Last night the AM Only showcase made me stop by Hiro Ballroom to have the first free beers of the night and meanwhile check out a couple of bands, Foreign Islands and Project Jenny, Project Jan. Foreign Islands were plain boring to me and didn't even bother taking a picture. Sorry. But ProjectJ was a completely different story. I am not gonna lie, I had listened to their debut album XOXOXOXOXO before so I wasn't unfamiliar with the band, but last night the electro-tropical-hip-pop mix that they are impressed me and live made me a new fan. I left that place with one more CD for my collection...

Project Jenny, Project Jan

The last song ProjectJ played had a lot of soul in it, and by soul I don't mean the genre but actual soul. ProjectJ are from Brooklyn, and with their great song Brooklyn they reminded me that the rest of my night was across the East River and that I better got going... Simian Mobile Disco was waiting for me.

SMD were excellent, but not as much as I thought they were going to be. I think they are the most original new dance act this year (yes, even over Justice who are just too similar to Daft Punk and I still have Daft Punk so don't need another one) and their debut album makes me move my legs every time I play it on my stereo, but something was missing last night. Maybe I am starting to get tired of seeing so many bands in a short period of time, or maybe not. Simian Mobile had a nice setup on stage with the two guys moving around their machines dynamically, even though one of them had still a collar bone injury... they reminded me a lot of Chemical Brothers during their Block Rockin' Beats era, looking very nerdy while banging their heads... we followed. Highlights of the show for me were a remix of a Go! Team song, It's the Beat, another remix this time of Klaxons, and the spectacular Hustler, arguably the best dance track this year. Anyway, I danced, danced, danced, and danced, because you know why? that's what my daddy's made me...

Simian Mobile Disco

But the winner of my night was New Young Pony Club, and especially her front girl. She smells like girl power all over. Her name is Tahita Bulmer, my new best front member of a band after James Murphy. She takes the mic, look at you, and before you realize she owns your attention... I didn't see anyone chatting, texting or talking to their neighbors, but just staring at her persona when not joining the masses for some sweaty get togethers. Besides, their drummer is a lady too, an a good one. Oh I almost forgot... the BEST moment of the show was by far when they played tribute to the techno anthem Pump Up the Jam by Technotronic. That shit hadn't sounded so good before.

NYPC released their debut album, Fantastic Playroom, in the States this year and while listening and dancing to Tahita's request I wished they were selling it right there to take it home with me. Unfortunately not. Gotta go to the record store...

New Young Pony Club

The party continued with a DJ set by Simian Mobile Disco (only one of them actually), and I stayed for some good thirty minutes, but I was exhausted... there are still two more days to come, and long ones. [photos of the show]

Links: Stream Project Jenny, Project Jan - XOXOXOXOXO