music lessons: fugue

best song going (15)

Myriad Harbour - New Pornographers



happy with the live performance (see previous post), but prefer the vocals on the album version

New Pornographers

Solid songs/musicians, but this show lacked the personality I hoped for from big names Neko Case, A.C. Newman and Dan Bejar.

video of the song - Myriad Harbour



thanks 1190 for the tickets!

best song going (8-14)

Blitzen Trapper

I ended up at the Melvins/Big Business show instead of the Blitzen Trapper show last night. Two drummers make sense with these guys.



thanks to the dude who gave me a free ticket the second before I was going to purchase one!

best song going (14)

Fake Empire - The National

Not my favorite from the show, but my favorite from their latest album - The Boxer.

The National

Regrettably missed St. Vincent’s performance. 9 pm is too late at the Ogden if you want to catch an opener. All ‘n all a good show with the band mixing up the tempo more than expected. Favorite song from the show - Start A War.



Video of the song Like A Pro.



thanks 1190 for the tickets!

The Besnard Lakes: the opposite of a Disaster

The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse (2007) is a good album, and their Denver show was good — unassumingly heart-felt and technically sound.

Clay adds:




A show that substantiated an exceptional album.

maybe shoulda gone to this: Okkervil River

What’s up Conor?! We love you Conor!?

There was plenty of love for Bright Eye’s frontman Conor Oberst at the Ogden last night. Despite suffering from a cold and it being the first show of the tour, the familiarity of his voice & songs were not lost. Most of the songs I wanted to hear were played. A new song, which he introduced as being a couple days old and potentially the reason for his illness, was the highlight of the evening. The song’s faster tempo and added volume were nice departures, but the highlight was in it’s performance. Conor and company lit up with their recent construction and I was happy to hear a song without the crowd’s sing-along adoration.

Enjoyed that song without taking video ... here’s a video of his popular song Bowl of Oranges:

best song going (13)

favorite from the just released Dirty Projectors album -Rise Above. (loosely based on Black Flag's Damaged)

video of the song from Dirty Projectors show at the Hi-Dive 04.14.07

steel, salt & sound

Salt Sound Waves - Watch today’s top amazing videos here

For Dan

best song going (12)

My Oldest Memory - Bowerbirds

dirty projectors (video)

From Tuesday's show at the Hi-Dive -



definitely pleasurable (see "Them's a Dirty" for VP's written review.)

new music: The Race

Them's a Dirty!

I expected to be asked “How were the Dirty Projectors?” I didn’t expect my answer. They were….complicated. Innovative, no question. Talented, definitely. Pleasurable…the jury’s still out.

Mostly, the music felt a bit like the tunes that followed me round and round the carousel as a child. Moving up and down in circles. First the little ones, the one my zebra made as he galloped behind the ostrich in front of us. Then the larger one, the one that took me past my dad at a dizzying speed. By the end, the sound was circling in my head, even after all the other circling had stopped. So are the Dirty Projectors.

Sporadically, they rocked out. They stopped concentrating on testing perfect pitch and manhandled their instruments mercilessly. These moments of sound and fury are when they really shone, but I’m not sure that’s an endorsement. For Radiohead, yes. For Wilco, no. For the Dirty Projectors….maybe.

The drummer, his faux-hawk-a-flailing, really deserves the most credit for the magnetism on these metal-moments. He cares not about perfect pitch. With a second base-drum, muffled, acting as a floor tom, a classic Zildjian ride cymbal with the price sticker still on, and a battery of mallets, he clearly enjoys those moments best. He was the only one who seemed to. Dave Longstreth and “the girls” seemed far too serious in contrast. Perhaps, they needed all of their energies to manufacture their kaleidoscope of octaves and pitch. But, like Mariah Carey, just because you have mastery of these doesn’t mean you should flaunt it constantly. Sometimes, simplicity says more.

I might be alone in thinking this, however. The crowd was into it. Their spastic rhythms found true love in that of the Dirty Projectors. And Mr. Longstreth certainly has a keen sense of his audience. This is a one man show. The drummer and his “girls” are on stage only as accessories that showcase his genius, though they offer their own impressive talents. I am left wondering what would emerge if he left them to their own devices. The Dirty Projectors without their light bulb. Now that’s something I’m interested in seeing.

dirty projectors (pics)

Menomena - Evil Bee (new video)

another weird one.

dancin' w/ myself

I heard this on 1190 and thought it was pretty cool:

Wilco Willdo

Poised for disappointment, I couldn't help but be reminded of my own deepest character flaw. I learn from experience. But experience isn't all it's cracked up to be. Mine told me that Wilco would leave me sugared but malnourished. Experience, narcotic and hypnotic, dulls our senses by drawing on the comfortable. The completed. Rarely am I shamed by my tendency to draw on it.

Last night, Jeff Tweedy and his not-quite merry band of elites made me blush and my conscious guilty. Saturated in synergy and punctuated by stagelighting on parade, the boys of Wilco lured me from my skepticism and earned my ear. My circulation soon followed. So did my cynicism. For once, they all agreed on what to order. The daily special. $34.99.

I still hate the Fillmore! Watching a show there is like watching one in a train station at rush hour on a Friday. The people. Suck. The venue is better suited for couples-skate than rock-and-roll. As for Wilco, I'm still not wholly engrossed. They've reached that point in their career where they orchestrate their arrangements to appease fans who know what's coming next rather than experiment with form and fluidity. And despite this, whenever they tried, they seemed to struggle with their transitions from studio takes to freeverse arrangements. But, that said, I'm glad I hit the "purchase" button on Friday morning. It gave me a chance to respectfully exorcise my Wilco demons, each winking kindly as it passed me by, and put them on this list of bands that matter.

Mantra

in B-minor