More recs, more personal tragedies
All i really want to write about is music, but i can't seem to find the time. This Friday my freakin wallet got stolen as i was drunkenly riding the subway home from Manhattan to Brooklyn. This is the first time anything like this has happened to me, and it sucks. i've spent as much time dealing with that in the last few days as i have anything else: calling banks to cancel ATM cards, filing reports at the police station, etc. The police station here in Crown Heights was probably the strangest experience and the first experience i've truly had with how slow beaurocracy can move: the DMV is (not unfairly) always the common target, but at the police station i had to file a lost possessions report, which started with me being directed to an office, presumably the sole purpose of which is to file such reports. It began with a woman wandering around the office looking for a pen in just about every place possible (roughly 15 minutes) while her son asked her questions and dismantled a pen at the desk. i had a pen in my bag, but i wanted to see how long this could go on. Then, once the pen was found, the next ten minutes (approximately) were spent looking for the form to file a stolen possessions report, as i had said my wallet was stolen. After this, and when she started asking me questions, i learned that since i hadn't actually SEEN someone steal my wallet, that i had to file a lost possessions form. More form-searching ensued. However, when i told her that my banks had confirmed that someone had attempted to check the balance at a Brooklyn ATM at 3:45 on Saturday morning (thus indicating that someone did indeed have my wallet), we had to switch back to Stolen Possessions, and then eventually settling back on Lost Possessions. If nothing else, this provided me with some much needed theatre of the absurd, which somehow was funny to me. i don't know how i managed to still have a sense of humour by this point, but i did. A phone call from a woman with a thick accent who could not pronounce "Banknorth" claimed to be from Visa, but once she started asking me for my account information it became clear that this was fraud and meant further calls to actual Banknorth, and thus more time on hold.
But i really want to talk about music, and i don't have to get up in the morning tomorrow, at least not as early as usual. So, the point is that i've seen two great shows in the last two weeks, one really amazing and one good enough. Two Mondays ago i saw Islands live, and Islands should not be missed. The band takes the stage in all white and features a Rastafarian looking barefoot bassist, a shaggy-haired hipster guitarist who doubles on bass clarinet, and two Asian violin players who look like math nerds but wind up rocking out the hardest. In a move that requires a buttload of moxie, the band actually begins with "Renaud," the bonus track/secret song from their debut that opens with nearly 5 minutes of rain. Granted they skipped the rain live, but it's not exactly what i would expect a band to play live, especially not as the opener. But it wound up being the best song of the night, in a lot of ways. A lot of bands want their first song to rock like crazy: Islands didn't need to. i had assumed they would start with "Swans." i'm way more glad it was "Renaud." Also, the new songs sound fuckin insane. If i were familiar with them, i think they would have been the highlights. Instead i have to merely predict that the next album is going to tear shit up. They looked incredibly in sync too, so i'm wondering if this incarnation of Islands, which have never been too concrete, especially since J'aime left, is the permanent rendition. Damn. i want to say the best show i've seen this year, but i've also seen Rx Bandits and Wolf Parade. Definitely the best show i've seen in New York (better than Girl Talk? yeah, i think so...i mean, they're a fucking rock band, and he's a laptop).
Last week i got to go see TV on the Radio, with Grizzly Bear, except that we missed Grizzly Bear because we drank 24 oz Budweisers underneath an information kiosk in the park at Union Square. Probably not worth it, as their new album "Yellow House" is quite good (better than "Horn of Plenty," for sure), but fun nonetheless. TV on the Radio was great, but i think i probably liked them less because i don't know their tunes like i do Islands. i've never heard "Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes" but i've heard that even the band themselves aren't satisfied with the way it came out. i think "Return to Cookie Mountain" is a really dynamic record which will probably challenge for Top 10 this year, and those songs sound great live. i'm a total sucker for "I Was a Lover," so i would say that that was the song of the night, but that's a totally biased and uninformed opinion. The crowd was, unfortunately confounding. If there's one thing you can count on in NYC, it's a crowd that's too damn cool to show that they like the band they're watching. Anyone like Nightmare of You? They've got a great line: "Start a band / Throw a brick / You lazy hipsters make me sick / Don't clap your hands / Don't start to dance / Don't let them know that you're a fan." Sounds about right. It certainly seemed like Adam and i were in the serious minority by rocking out, but we like to think that the band appreciated it. He's a way bigger TVotR fan than i am but we both caught the bug of the band's energy. Too bad most other people didn't.
Some plugs: i'm listening to the new record by the Blow right now, who i'm (hopefully) going to be interviewing for daytrotter.com later this week. Look for that, i'll keep you posted. It's a really cool record of synth pop with female vocals. Good melodies, quirkier than Postal Service, probably due to Khaela Maricich leanings more toward conceptual and performance art.
A diss: i got the new Swan Lake, which i've been anticipating like kids want Christmas. A dream indie rock collab between Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown), Dan Bejar (Destroyer, New Pornos), and Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes). It's a total bummer. The track that pitchfork posted this summer, "All Fires," is the best song on the album, and there's really only three quality tracks. It's awash in unmelodic psychedelia, too many ideas and not concise at all. Much closer to Destroyer and Sunset than Wolf Parade, it just doesn't really go anywhere. No melodies, lots of big thinking but no real attempts to create focused music. It's unfortunate, because 1. This could have been so good, and 2. this is keeping Spencer from making Wolf Parade. And we all need more Wolf Parade.
But i really want to talk about music, and i don't have to get up in the morning tomorrow, at least not as early as usual. So, the point is that i've seen two great shows in the last two weeks, one really amazing and one good enough. Two Mondays ago i saw Islands live, and Islands should not be missed. The band takes the stage in all white and features a Rastafarian looking barefoot bassist, a shaggy-haired hipster guitarist who doubles on bass clarinet, and two Asian violin players who look like math nerds but wind up rocking out the hardest. In a move that requires a buttload of moxie, the band actually begins with "Renaud," the bonus track/secret song from their debut that opens with nearly 5 minutes of rain. Granted they skipped the rain live, but it's not exactly what i would expect a band to play live, especially not as the opener. But it wound up being the best song of the night, in a lot of ways. A lot of bands want their first song to rock like crazy: Islands didn't need to. i had assumed they would start with "Swans." i'm way more glad it was "Renaud." Also, the new songs sound fuckin insane. If i were familiar with them, i think they would have been the highlights. Instead i have to merely predict that the next album is going to tear shit up. They looked incredibly in sync too, so i'm wondering if this incarnation of Islands, which have never been too concrete, especially since J'aime left, is the permanent rendition. Damn. i want to say the best show i've seen this year, but i've also seen Rx Bandits and Wolf Parade. Definitely the best show i've seen in New York (better than Girl Talk? yeah, i think so...i mean, they're a fucking rock band, and he's a laptop).
Last week i got to go see TV on the Radio, with Grizzly Bear, except that we missed Grizzly Bear because we drank 24 oz Budweisers underneath an information kiosk in the park at Union Square. Probably not worth it, as their new album "Yellow House" is quite good (better than "Horn of Plenty," for sure), but fun nonetheless. TV on the Radio was great, but i think i probably liked them less because i don't know their tunes like i do Islands. i've never heard "Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes" but i've heard that even the band themselves aren't satisfied with the way it came out. i think "Return to Cookie Mountain" is a really dynamic record which will probably challenge for Top 10 this year, and those songs sound great live. i'm a total sucker for "I Was a Lover," so i would say that that was the song of the night, but that's a totally biased and uninformed opinion. The crowd was, unfortunately confounding. If there's one thing you can count on in NYC, it's a crowd that's too damn cool to show that they like the band they're watching. Anyone like Nightmare of You? They've got a great line: "Start a band / Throw a brick / You lazy hipsters make me sick / Don't clap your hands / Don't start to dance / Don't let them know that you're a fan." Sounds about right. It certainly seemed like Adam and i were in the serious minority by rocking out, but we like to think that the band appreciated it. He's a way bigger TVotR fan than i am but we both caught the bug of the band's energy. Too bad most other people didn't.
Some plugs: i'm listening to the new record by the Blow right now, who i'm (hopefully) going to be interviewing for daytrotter.com later this week. Look for that, i'll keep you posted. It's a really cool record of synth pop with female vocals. Good melodies, quirkier than Postal Service, probably due to Khaela Maricich leanings more toward conceptual and performance art.
A diss: i got the new Swan Lake, which i've been anticipating like kids want Christmas. A dream indie rock collab between Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown), Dan Bejar (Destroyer, New Pornos), and Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes). It's a total bummer. The track that pitchfork posted this summer, "All Fires," is the best song on the album, and there's really only three quality tracks. It's awash in unmelodic psychedelia, too many ideas and not concise at all. Much closer to Destroyer and Sunset than Wolf Parade, it just doesn't really go anywhere. No melodies, lots of big thinking but no real attempts to create focused music. It's unfortunate, because 1. This could have been so good, and 2. this is keeping Spencer from making Wolf Parade. And we all need more Wolf Parade.
posted by todd at 21:41
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