Caribou @ Bowery Ballroom - Fri Mar 28, 2008

Brad Weber

I heard yesterday that Brad Weber, the drummer of Caribou's live shows, fell from a ladder and fractured his wrist. I have no idea how Dan Snaith, aka Caribou, is gonna replace him, because to me he is the best drummer I have ever seen live, displacing LCD Soundsystem's Pat Mahoney from his throne, and together with multi-instrumentalist Dan Snaith, the heart of Caribou's show. Seriously, you can't take your eyes off from Brad while he hits those drums like if it was the last time he is going to, and man, he enjoys it so much that makes you wish you were able to do it too.


Before the show started I was already thinking all the good things I was going to write about Dan Snaith's live show, since this is the second time I see him and no record on this blog was around, but then Brad took the protagonism of the show as he started playing... let's skip then the usual admiration for my fellow Math Ph.D. musician. Besides, I think most of you already know and/or have read how genius and capable of giving life to his very computarized music Dan Snaith is.

The show started right away with one of my very favorite tracks on Andorra, Sundialing. Andorra is Caribou's latest album and the one that introduced me to Dan's music, but I don't think it is his finest to date. The Milk of Human Kindness is for me his truly masterpiece, so far, and off from such a great album Caribou continued their show with Brahminy Kite, without stopping. If you happen to have The Milk with you right now, please play that song and tell me whether you know someone on earth who can reproduce those drums live. Well, Brad Weber and Dan Snaith, together, they can and they will make you feel you owe them more than the $25 you paid to be in the same room with them.


The show continued with an ok version of Melody Day, which live doesn't sound as powerful to me as it does on record, and a gift to old-school fans from the era of Manitoba, Skunks, off the album Up In Flames. They played a couple more songs of that album, Bijoux and Crayon, after the standout Yeti from The Milk, and over all did a great job taking as back and forth all along Snaith's discography. They also played After Hours and She is the One from Andorra, and for my pleasure, A Final Warning, Bees, Hello Hammerheads and Barnowl from The Milk (yes!).

Barnowl was particularly amazing. The bassist and second guitarist kicked really hard giving us lots of distortion and feedback while the awesome double drummers were taking care of the beat like no others. Dan and Brad would hit their drum sets pretty much in a complementary way... when one was hitting the other one was about to do it too. It was perfect.


My only complain would be that since the drums were up in front of the stage, as they should be for this band, the bass was making vibrate the hell out of it and the noise coming from that vibration sometimes would arruine Dan's vocals, especially during Melody Day. So ok, not everything was perfect... but almost.

I wish Caribou had played some chill tracks from Up in Flames and from Start Braking My Heart, like Dundas, Ontario and Children Well Play Together, or some hip-hop influenced tracks from The Milk, but they did not, and they probably won't. Their show's strength is precisely what they do most of the time and it will be right there in front of you... it will be two unbelievable drummers showing you how to get it done. [photos of the show]

♫♫♫♫♫

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

Caribou Links: Stream Andorra, Official Website, MySpace, Wiki, YouTube, at Merge Records.

Holy Fuck / A Place to Bury Strangers @ Music Hall of Williamsburg - Sat Mar 22, 2008

Holy Fuck were Buried

I hate going to shows when I am sick, but you know, I had the tickets, I was taking out friends who were visiting the city, and this was the first time I was going to see Holy Fuck sort of headlining a show. I had to go. I told my friends that by the end of the night to decide what band was better live we could have just tossed a coin. It turned out that wasn't necessary either, A Place to Bury Strangers must have felt really home because they blew Holy Fuck away.


I am a fan of Holy Fuck for a longer time than of A Place to Bury Strangers, but after this show I am afraid I will be enjoying more the latter. I saw Holy Fuck for the first time opening for !!! and they almost steal the show. Since then, I saw them opening (and stealing shows) for so many bands in the city that I wondered whether they were really from Canada or not. It was about time they would headline their own show here, but they made a mistake... they played Brooklyn and their openers were one of the most loved local bands there.

A Place to Bury Strangers were brought to my attention by Pitchfork, got the album, thought it was cool, saw them once live and still thought they were cool, but the night of March 22 they were not only cool to me but a great live band. I mean, they stole Holy Fuck's show! Their self-titled debut album and their gorgeous noise and feedback doesn't sound anymore to me like an imitation of Jesus & Mary Chain or Joy Division, but like a balanced amalgamation.

Holy Fuck's encore was special. They invited A Place to Bury Strangers on stage to play their lovely Lovely Allen (that Radiohead likes btw) with all their guitars and black boxes. It ruled... Holy Fuck needs some of that.


I am running out of time and I didn't really talk about the show itself, sorry. One last thing... I never wanted to say Holy Fuck is not worth your $15 anymore in case you got that impression. No. Holy Fuck is still a powerful band live, but their albums haven't been aging too well for me and I might have seen them live way too often. And as someone who is digging new music all the time, I guess I just needed some fresh air. [photos of the show]

♫♫♫♫♪

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

A Place to Bury Strangers Links: Official Website, MySpace, YouTube, at Daytrotter,
Holy Fuck Links: Stream Holy Fuck (LP), Official Website, MySpace, Wiki

Matthew Dear @ Hiro Ballroom - Mar 13, 2008

Don't Go This Way

Matthew Dear's debut album Asa Breed is one of the most underrated albums of 2007. Even myself, who bought it and listened to it quite a few times, didn't realize how much I like it. All those perceptions came up last night when I saw Matthew Dear's live show, as Big Hands, where he clearly showed he is one of the most defying genre mixers in electronic music right now. I don't know if I write that right (excuse me, English is not my first language), but I think you got the idea. I left Hiro Ballroom last night quite impressed.


Last year I missed out when Matthew played a show at Mercury Lounge in support of his fantastic Asa Breed, but since I knew he moved to NYC I figured there were going to come plenty of opportunities to see him live at least once. Well, it hadn't been quite like that. Even though Matthew has been playing around, it turns out he has several monikers to do it. As a DJ, that is as Audion, he has played several times this year and I have heard he is decent and knows how to carry a party on, but that he is nothing really special at it. As a live act, I can be now one more person to tell you that he is nothing lesser than excellent.


Matthew came out sometime around midnight in some extremely tight black pants. I don't know how he was standing, cause I doubt there was any blood going down to his feet. He looks like his music... elegant, sort of European style, but with a mix of a latin and hipster look. Mr. Dear stands in front of his band, a drummer and a bassist, with his voice manipulator, a computer and his moves. Nice moves. We were delighted with the best songs of Asa Breed and a couple of new songs, including the one that recently has been posted on all blogs around, the icy Don't Go This Way. This new song was not included on his debut album, adn hearing how good it is I wonder what else he has kept hidden. Show us Mathhew. [photos of the show]

♫♫♫♫♪

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

Matthew Dear Links: Stream Asa Breed, Official Website, MySpace, Wikipedia, at Ghostly

Black Lips @ Bowery Ballroom - Mar 10, 2008

I was born ready for this

Not much has changed in Black Lips world since last time I saw them. They put on one of my best live shows last year. Since it was that good, I came back last Monday to see them again and they sent me back home feeling like I was 18 one more time.


The next day after the show I read on some blogs people complaining about how Black Lips' music appeals so much to 16 years old guys and girls and hence it diminishes it. Yeah , that's stupid. I mean, I bet your 15 year old brother or sister love ice cream, so therefore ice cream sucks? Of course not, so just admit it... you are old and they have better taste in music. Suck it up.


This time Black Lips started the show playing their Good Bad Not Evil with I Saw a Ghost (Lean) and Katrina right after. They were killers, right from the beginning, and kept it up the rest of the show with almost no time between songs. There was crowd surfing, as always, and the dancing seriously never stopped. In the middle of my enjoying (yes, I was dancing with your 16 year old brothers) I heard Boomerang, a song I don't remember right now its name but that it has the word "abandoned" somewhere, Bad Kids, Dirty Hands, Buried Alive, Cold Hands, Lost and Found, Everybody is Doing It, and a cover of a King Khan & the Shrines song. Awesome.


I think I have a crush on Cole. He is the rocker in the picture above. So Cole, if you happen to read this one day and you happen to be gay, just leave a comment somewhere here and I'll make sure I get back to you. Please keep being as crazy and cute as you are... I like to spread the word of a punk singer, with a drunk voice and a Colombian mom, who has visited the city where I was born. How come we didn't meet there?


Coming back to earth, perhaps the only difference between the two Black Lips shows I've seen is that this time they did play an encore, cause I remember having some time to breath. I remember they played the nice Veni Vidi Vici, one more song, and then they were gone to smoke some weed. Time to record another great record guys. [photos of the show]

♫♫♫♫♫

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

Black Lips Links: Stream Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo, Official Website, Youtube (Recommended), Black Lips' Middle East Summer Vacation Part 1 and Part 2, MySpace, Vice Records, Wikipedia, Blog

Sam Amidon @ Mercury Lounge - Mar 09, 2008

All Is Well

Not too many times I decide to leave my home on a Sunday night, especially after having a cold the whole week, to go to see a show. Sam Amidon's All Is Well made such a good impression on me a couple of weeks ago that I got myself on my car to see him at the very intimate Mercury Lounge.


All Is Well sounds indeed like a very intimate album, perfect for the venue, and on it Sam sounds like if he was having monologues along all its 10 songs as a first-person narrator. Live it gets engaging. When he talks he sparks charisma all around, and when he hits the first notes on his guitar or tambourine, and take some distance from the mic, he suffers a transformation that transports everyone around to join him in his borrowed memories. As I read on Pitchfork, All Is Well is not all original by Sam, but he does embraces it like it was his own. It should be his own.


Sam has a lazy voice. He reminded me of ventriloquists. He has to give some good distance from his mic, still sounding loud enough, and by barely moving his mouth, he can make noises that might surprise you.

Most of the set was off All Is Well (I remember Little Johnny Brown, Saro, Oh Death), and the songs I didn't identify I guess they came from the other album I saw he was selling, But This Chicken Proves Falsehearted. For those of you who know him a bit better and have seen his cool, he didn't play any Tears for Fears cover, but he did play some imaginary drum set at the same time his invited drummer hit a real one. Ah, he also did some dumb-ass amateur breakdancing. Cute. [pics of the show]

♫♫♫♫

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

Samamidon Links: Stream All Is Well, Official Website, MySpace

Atlas Sound @ Mercury Lounge - Sat Feb 23, 2008

Scraping Past

If you read what it says at the top of the web page, you can see that Bradford Cox was one of the reasons why I started writing about the shows I go every weekend. Since he made such a good impression on me when I saw his stellar show at Bowery Ballroom with Deerhunter, now a while ago, I will probably check out any band he decides to affiliate his name to, Atlas Sound this time, because the guy is pretty much a genius to me and he is making one of the most exciting sounds these days.


Haven't you heard Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel yet? It's one of my favorite albums this year, and live Bradford and his band even made it more interesting. The show started with Cold As Ice, one of best tracks on LTBLTWCSBCF, but somehow I didn't really like it. They started playing it very loud and I was missing the funky electronics that makes it a standout on the record. It was a good beginning, but just different from what I expected. After listening to their debut album I thought Bradford was going to give us a more relaxed ambient show, but instead we got a pretty rocky one tho still not as dense as a Deerhunter's one. Once I got in the mood for it, damn, I couldn't stop thinking once in a while: Wow.

Bradford has a killer bassist playing for him (she has her own solo project called Valet), a nerd looking guy playing the keyboards (he has his own solo project but I can't recall right now), a cute drummer, and an excellent guitarist (and very annoying) guy who goes by the name Adam (aka White Rainbow). It's easy to see they haven't been playing together for a long time, but soon they will look like it because the chemistry is evident and good energy just floats around.

I got a picture of the set list, so if you are going to see them anytime soon, this is probably what you are going to hear:

Cold As Ice
Bite Marks
Recent Bedroom
Ativan
Quarantined
River Card
Scraping Past
Winter Vacation
---
Requiem

By the time I heard Quarantined, another one of my favorite ones, I was completely sold to their re-interpretations. I guess that's why the best moment of the show had to be, besides Adam finally shutting up, when the band played the pretty River Card and soon after blew everybody's mind with Scraping Past. I am listening to it right now. It's that kind of song that slowly evolves and makes you anxious about wanting to let it explode already, but the peak doesn't really come as such... it tricks you and sort of fades away without letting you notice. It fucking gets addictive. [pics of the show]

♫♫♫♫♪

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

Atlas Sound Links: Stream Let the Blind (...), MySpace, Blog, Wikipedia

Taken By Trees @ Hiro Ballroom - Fri Feb 22, 2008

Lost and Found

Fortunately for Victoria Bergsman, aka Taken By Trees, the Hiro Ballroom was pretty empty last night. Last time I saw her on a stage was for the Peter Bjorn and John tour that stopped at Mercury Lounge where she sang the couple of lines she has on their very famous Young Folks. She barely made eye contact with the public and seemed like at any moment she was going to run away. It wasn't quite like that last night.


The show started with a video projection that made the ballroom even quieter and set a good mood for listening Victoria's beautiful voice. It was a video with lots of trees... lots, and if there was a reference different from her band telling us we were about to be taken by her trees, I guess I didn't really get it. She started with Julia.

Open Field is Taken By Trees' debut album. It is a very calmed piece of pop that I like to think it reflects perfectly how Victoria is... fragile, delicate, sad on the outside and very warm in the inside. Of course that was pretty much what she played and it sounded great at Hiro, particularly the two songs that pretty much make the album for me, Lost & Found and Open Field. Ironically those two songs were not written by Victoria, but by Camera Obscura's Tracyanne Campbell and PB&J's Bjorn Yttling, respectively, so actually they don't really sound like they were not hers.

She was happy in her own way, shy and introspected, with the crowd and seemed like she gave us a last minute gift for how quiet we were for her. She whispered her guitarist and soon after he started playing their new song that has been hitting every blog around these days, her cover of Guns N' Roses's Sweet Child of Mine. It was definitely the best moment of the show.


She played one more song and said it was the last one, but as everybody knows, she was lying. A one song encore only by herself with her guitar was really the last song of the show, but she didn't finish it... "I am too shy, I am sorry" and she left us hanging there. I guess she really needs her band. [photos of the show]

♫♫♫♪

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

Taken By Trees Links: Stream Open Field, Official Website, MySpace, Wikipedia

Hot Chip @ Highline Ballroom - Sat Feb 02, 2008

Hold On

Hot Chip played the nice Highline Ballroom last night in anticipation of their new album Made in the Dark, coming out next week, and it couldn't have worked better. There was a lot of jumping, fisting and singing along for their infamous songs, like Over & Over and Boy From School, and now for their new songs. These guys seriously need to record an album live, cause they do it like no other.


Hot Chip started the show with Shake a Fist, one of the songs on the new album that they have been playing for a long time, even when promoting The Warning. They started strong, hitting every possible object around. After Boy From School an early highlight of the show came for me: Hold On. It's one of my favorite songs on Made in the Dark and live sounded as good as I wanted to hear it. Alexis and Joe looked a bit surprised seeing that a good portion of the in front crowd already knew the lyrics, but we are in 2008 and albums leak every week and stuff you know. They know it too and smiled.

There is a new Hot Chip live if you haven't noticed. They are playing more ballads than before and I hope they bring back more of their quirkiness to the live setting, like they did last night with Wrestlers. It was time to show off... Alexis took off his Chinese shirt and gave us a good surprise:


I always enjoy the most the interaction between Alexis and Joe, and it soon came in the third song with Wrestlers. You see them and couldn't agree more that they were meant to make music together. Alexis and his funny lines about going out on Mondays to watch wrestlers, with Joe's sort of rapping, will make you laugh. Man, they used to call themselves Sophocles and Ulysses!

The synthesized Touch Too Much sounded great and was followed by their trademark Over & Over, which I am sure we don't need to talk anymore about how crazy people go when they hear it live. The Beautiful We Are Looking for a Lot Of Love let us have a break right after and they continued with Out at the Pictures. Such a great beginning for the new alum was the song I though they were going to use to open the show, but it was rather used to bring back the dancing everybody loves at their shows. Have you hear the chorus? Hot Chip is the only band I can hear barking like dogs and me not feeling like an asshole for following them. The only one.


The big surprise of the night for me came next, Bendable Poseable. Such a crazy song. I still think the beginning of Made in the Dark is a bit too heavy, but with time it softens, like with The Warning's opener Careful. Bendable Poseable is fourth in that beginning and its crazy beats and sounds along the song live sounded like what I needed, like a crazy rythm to follow to heat up the night.

Ready for the Floor, their most recent single was great. Damn, the whole concert ok? Just in case I haven't insisted enough about it. Then they dissapeared. Well, most of them but Al who didn't notice (or pretended?) not seeing their bandmates had left the stage. According to their set list they were supposed to play Don't Dance to close the set, but who knows why they didn't. They were into the show, the crowd was into them, as always, and the talking can be seen now everywhere about how great the show introducing the new album turned out to be.

Something the band want everybody to realize is that they are not only Over & Over kind of song writers, and by playing a Made in the Dark full of guitar noise as their first song for the encore we were reminded of that, but they finally left the stage after making everybody sweat once again with the energetic No Fit State. They were supposed to play my fave One Pure Thought as part of their encore, but again don't know why they didn't.


I hope they keep the soft revitalized songs coming because it was their interesting slow music (Coming On Strong, namely) what got me into them and will never let me go. And with shows like last night's I am being nicely forced to stay with them. [photos of the show]

♫♫♫♫♫

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

Hot Chip Links: Stream Made in the Dark, Stream DJ-Kicks, Stream The Warning, Stream Coming on Strong, Official Website, YouTube, MySpace, Wikipedia

Joanna Newsom @ BAM - Fry Jan 31, 2008

Darling

Joanna Newsom took the stage a couple of minutes after she was supposed to and I was already impressed. Dressed elegant in black she walked to her harp and everybody couldn't stop clapping as if the concert was already over. Although I did know Joanna was going to play with a full orchestra, plus her band, I didn't know she was going to play Ys in its entirety from beginning to end, you know, like if it were a classic. She is right tho... Ys is already a classic.


She started then with Emily. It hadn't been one minute into the song when her special voice hit me hard and it made me had goose bumps. I wasn't the only one. Everybody around me was pretty much holding their breath and watering their eyes amazed of how beautiful she was already pulling it off and thinking that was just the beginning. Nobody was embarrassed. She paused before starting with Monkey & Bear, let us have some air, talked a little bit with her tiny voice and proceeded to keep giving us more of her Newsomeness, telling us the story about her darling Ursula.

Monkey & Bear might be my favorite Joanna Newsom's song. It was the first song I heard by her, the first one I hated, and later the first one that made me go deep into her music. Nowadays it is to me like a poem made a song... made a beautiful song. It opened my ears to listen to more music I didn't care at all before and those things are just priceless to me. Indeed, it was the whole Ys as an album that made that effect on me. I do love most of Ys. It is Only Skin, and about two thirds of that song, that are kind of boring, or more precisely not as excellent as the rest of the songs. If she would have worked more on that song I am sure this album would be one of my all time favorites. Hell, what am I saying? It is already.

The best moment of the show had to be Sawdust & Diamonds when Joanna plays her harp solo, without any orchestra but only her voice, and once again she sent us all out of this planet to take a look at the stars and bring us back again, all in 9 minutes and 55 seconds.


After that trip, Only Skin came and finally Cosmia closed the set. Of course, right after she played her last note the whole theater exploded in claps congratulating the hour she kindly had shared with us and we (I for sure) will never forget.

I was ready to go home and sleepiness took over my head, but the concert wasn't over yet. She came back after some good 15 or 20 minutes in a pink dress to enchant us again with some older and newer songs than the ones on Ys, but at least in my case they didn't work much. I fall sleep. But I am sure I had dreams... I swear I saw Emily and Ursula dancing with Monkey & Bear, by the trees full of Sawdust & Diamonds. [crappy photos of the show][better photos of the show]

♫♫♫♫♫

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

Joanna Newsom Links: Official Website, MySpace, Wikipedia, Pitchfork interview

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