Author Archive
Spiritualized-Songs in A&E
Author: Steven
Jason Pierce of Spiritualized, even after a close brush with death, released a post-recovery album this year that has quickly become one of my favorites. It is, in fact, my go-to record after a trying day. Songs in A&E is a beautiful collection of poignant songs that, frankly, we are lucky to even have the opportunity to purchase given Pierce’s hospitalization and recovery process. This is one of the albums that one truly appreciates more after realizing the context in which it was written/finished/recorded. Most people will not really buy that last sentence, which is kind of unfortunate. Read the rest of this entry »
read comments (1)Woods [Family Creeps]
Author: Steven
I recently went to see a show in Brooklyn. Typical. What was not so typical, however, were the band who graced my ears upon arrival at the Silent Barn. Read the rest of this entry »
Wordless Music Series [Metropolis Ensemble/Deerhoof]
Author: Steven
This past Saturday marked another great concert in the Wordless Music Series that has been going on full-force this season. This event featured the Metropolis Ensemble under the direction of Andrew Cyr and the ever-entertaining band from San Francisco, Deerhoof.
[Monotonix/Crystal Antlers/]Cut Off Your Hands/Bear Hands
Author: Steven
Money is hard to come by when you’re a college student (and your parents aren’t sending you “allowances” for “spending money” because you make “necessary purchases” every week that require hundreds). So whenever I save up the requisite $22.50 to get a round trip to NYC, it’s a BIG DEAL (for me). Phones ring, Brooklyn floors are cleared for my crashing, and plans are made.
Well, don’t know if you’ve ever heard of this Todd P fella, but his shows are, seriously, a dream-come-true for kids (or adults) on a budget. I don’t think I’ve ever paid more than $7 for a show, and the bills are always about 3-4 bands. And it’s an all-ages deal…which is amazing so that kids under 18 can actually get to see live interesting stuff instead of sitting at home and watching MTV. This last Saturday had a 4-band bill…unfortunately, I was only able to see 2. And a half. Or something.
Fleet Foxes
Author: Steven
Everyone can appreciate a beautiful voice. I don’t care what kind of music you are into…there is always THAT voice for each genre–that voice which, when you hear it for the first time, convinces you that there are few things more welcome to your ears.
Singers today come in a variety of singing abilities; I’ll admit that I enjoy the nasal whining/screaming of singers just as much as I do the beautiful crooning of a well-weathered singer/songwriter (more often than not, I like the former). But the trick for pulling off the “beautiful voice”-kind-of-music is to find the right combination of a beautiful voice and…well, kinda obviously, beautiful song-writing. I don’t think many would argue that the majority of American Idol contestants have great voices (my one requisite pop-culture reference for the year), but when it comes to their collective ability to write a beautiful album, I think that it’s safe to assume that it leaves something to be desired.
Fleet Foxes’s self-titled LP has that golden ratio of beautiful voices and song-writing. The perfect combination that kinda (embarrassingly) leaves your mouth hanging open for the first few minutes of the album while sitting by yourself in your local coffee shop. And it’s delicious…
The Dodos-Visiter
Author: Steven
A few prerequisites before naming your band “The Dodos”:
1. More than 50% of the band should be relatively good looking in an effort to avoid too close of a connection between the band name and the band members
2. Your music should be pretty good so as to avoid the label of a “joke band.” (Note: Most bands should strive to meet this prerequisite, though not all of them do.)
3. You should not take yourself too seriously. I mean…you call yourself The Dodos.
4. I should hope that you really love animals. And not just extinct ones.
Having met these requirements, these two boys from San Francisco (The Dodos!) create a perfect blend of light-hearted music, substantial lyrics, and anthemic drive. Tasteful irony is alive and well in the music world. Read the rest of this entry »
The Ruby Suns
Author: Steven
It’s always risky to pass judgment on a band solely based on their live performances without ever having listened to their recordings. Especially when you convince yourself after a live set to buy the bands’ CD’s. We’ve all been there: “God this band is good…so tight, so energetic. I’m going to buy their album after the show…” Then you realize that the band that you’ve just spent the last 45 minutes of your life watching loses quite a bit of…of something…in their studio recordings. It’s unfortunate. So unfortunate, in fact, that for the next however many minutes, my desperation will be channeled into writing this blog post. The band in question? The Ruby Sun. The venue? Terrace lawnparties. The CD? Sea Lion.
Read the rest of this entry »
Animal Collective-Water Curses
Author: Steven
Although I’ve been listening to this EP since it leaked on March 12 (nearly 2 months before its scheduled release date), I somehow haven’t lost interest in its pop-driven goodness and atmospheric “mysterrrry.” Enough online music blogs have creamed themselves over this band and everything they do [pitchforkmedia.com, looking at you, buddy], so I’ll save readers from the digital hand job that this band really deserves. And believe me…they deserve one.
Because really…they’re amazing.
Really. Read the rest of this entry »
Times New Viking-Rip It Off
Author: Steven
What is it about lo-fi punk bands that drives everyone crazy [in the good way...] these days? What with the phenomenal debut full-length from LA’s No Age and the long-standing underground successes of garage noise punk a la Japanther, Mika Miko, Black Lips, etc, it’s almost as if the lo-fi recording quality of some upcoming bands serves as a “seal of approval” for listeners everywhere that says, or even screams: “This music is so raw…you’re going to listen to the shitty quality, and you’re going to loooove it.” But in the end, you have to admit that this lo-fi stuff actually sounds, well, kinda good…not in terms of clean engineering or production, maybe, but as a complement to the bands’ sounds and attitudes about not only how they record their music, but how they choose to perform it live as well. Times New Viking’s newest release “Rip It Off” is a perfect example of how maxed-out instrumentation/vocals can be made to just work. Read the rest of this entry »
Los Campesinos! Live at the Music Hall of Williamsburg
Author: Steven
Going to NYC for a show always seems like such a wonderful idea at first…but then in retrospect [after riding the 1:41am NE corrider branch NJT back to Princeton Junction only to find yourself standing in the rain trying to hassle with cab drivers to drive you back to the campus] one has to reaaally think about whether or not that money and time was worth it. In most cases, the response is pretty quick to come: “Yeah, that was an amazing show…[insert band name] were so great. Totally worth it. I’m going to go blog about how wonderful they were.” But, every so often, you have to brace yourself for the ugly truth (i.e.-you got suckered); unfortunately, that seemed to be the case last night. Read the rest of this entry »
The Thomas Function-Celebration
Author: Steven
Do you remember that favorite local band in high school who you’d go see every other weekend with you girlfriend/boyfriend at the dingy warehouse/art space/basement? Done? Awesome. Now…imagine how you would feel if that band were to suddenly, and quite dramatically, dis-band (haha…oh man) and try to start a new gimmick with more synthesizers and less punk rawk. Done? Not so great, right? Especially not at an impressionable age when all you wanted to listen to was “Alabama Jihad,” a band that sounded as abrasive as their name suggested. So, imagine my disdain when my small-town-wonder-band regrouped under the moniker “The Thomas Function” and stopped wearing uniforms at their shows. An unhappy camper, I was. But, 6 years and some awkward realizations later, I have to say that these boys from Bama clean up their sound quite nice. Read the rest of this entry »
Monotonix/HEALTH live at TFC
Author: Steven
On April 26, 2008, the Terrace Eating Club of Princeton was graced with not one, but two of the most exciting/noisy bands in music today. One might ask…”Who, Steven? Who are these rock-and-roll animals you speak of? And what the hell did you do to deserve a viewing of these alleged wonders of noise rock in the same night?” And I would respond, in so many words: “Oh…you know…this band called Health…and some guys from Tel Aviv who call themselves Monotonix… [For the record, the ellipses would stand in conversation and could easily be confused for pauses of pretentiousness, but in fact I just have a hard time organizing my thoughts before having words leave my mouth in a jumbled mess. And for that, I apologize.] YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE! blah blah” Or something to that effect.
The Death Set-To
Author: Steven
Hailing from Baltimore, the [mother ****'n] Death Set (as they are so apt to call themselves) pretty much fulfill every expectation one might have of a thrash-punk trio in the realms of song execution and composition–their EP, To, is a screaming blast-through of 7 songs within 12 minutes, with no song containing a progression involving more than 3 chords or straying too far away from the oh-so-catchy V-I hook. But despite this seemingly banal description of the Death Set’s music, one thing is for sure–they’re just…reaaaally fun to listen to. Read the rest of this entry »