Lyrical ingenue

Curt saw this on "Mui Buenas Dias" which is a morning show w/ girls in bikinis.

~Be Clever and Carry a Big Bow~

Andrew Bird Ogden Theater February 26, 2009

Last night was the first time I looked down on Andrew Bird. It didn’t seem quite right. Pressed against the balcony railing at the Ogden, a leader among lemmings pushing and stretching toward the cliff, and the sea of people below, I saw the writing on the top of his socks. Red, stark script stitching the white tips of his toes to the tight black cotton that rounded his heels and disappeared into his slacks. All melting into his striped, and patterned, rich burgundy rug; a safe space as misplaced as the man, rectangular against the curves of the stage.

I towered above his gramophone cones and bandmates too, both of which multiply with each tour. This go-round, the long-haired homely fellow who made Bird’s duo with Martin Dosh a trio in 2008 is more manicured and mod. He is leaner; his hair cropped and British. Behind him, now, there’s a new doughy, homely, long-haired fellow, sometimes filling in unnoticed silence with deep pulses from his bass guitar, other times bringing album tracks to life with a clarinet or an alto sax. Always unassuming. As far as I can tell, he’s not so much a band member (that status comes in time) as he’s another piece of equipment. Hi-tech and versatile.

Unlike his accoutrements, Mr. Bird seems to be shrinking. His blazer hangs on his frame, despite precise tailoring, unable (or unwilling) to hide the thinness of his neck or the precise lines of his jaw. But it doesn’t need to. His waifishness suits him. I doubt he eats. I just can’t picture it. Somehow, he seems too dignified. Eating is so human. He is ethereal. Otherworldly. How else could he balance so many rhythms and melodies at once, with grace, making sure that every one got a chance to glimmer in the darkness. And who but a celestial could stretch tenuous to tenuousness with promises of snacks at the apocalypse and convince his dewy-eye Disney bride, to let him tie her wrists with leather.

On his left, always on the left, behind his gold and glitter kit--symbols ringed with bells and other percussives--and flanked by his double-decked keyboard wired for looping, Martin Dosh does his part. Though he’s a genius with sound and rhythm in his own right, he’s been with Andrew Bird for several years now. The first Mr. Bird welcomed to his one man show. Perhaps being part of an Andrew Bird Project is satisfying enough to give up on his own headline, or at least consistently keep him out of Minnesota winters. I could imagine that. More likely, Martin Dosh feels it just as the couple cuddling behind me--being in the presence of genius is narcotic.

But there’s a cost. Mr. Bird no longer plays at the Hi-dive, making poorly mixed recordings and thanking familiar barstaff. There’s too many addicts now. The Hi-dive can’t contain them. No one could be familiar with anyone in this sold-out Ogden show, but no one feels lonely either; each wooed by the intimacy of Mr. Bird’s falsetto and his exaggerated gesturing. For me, it’s the synchronicity of his whistling as he strokes his Glockenspiel. This organic pairing makes sound more whole than it ever could be otherwise. Even symphonies practiced att oxygenating concert halls with devilishly complicated harmonies couldn’t fill out a single note like Mr. Bird and his whistling.

Three encore adaptations later, the first two sans band, as the lights go up, I’m left with a familiar feeling. All things must pass—we fall in love, and out. We lose pets. We move. We grow up. Our hands take on the character our mother’s and our eyes deepen with time as our father’s did. Our hearing becomes less precise. But Andrew Bird’s consummate showmanship will never change, no matter how many venues, states, and seasons wear on it. The snapshots he captures, crisper than any Polaroid ever could and sprinkled into visceral vignettes, change as I do. Still frames in moving pictures--he narrates as a modern day Pan, charismatic as he is enigmatic, who traded a reed flute for electronica and strings and his lasciviousness for eerie politeness. And I will never tire of any of it.

(I couldn't resist).
With much love to the Brothers M.,
V.P.

bsg (61)

Cries of the Dead - Chad VanGaalen

Hard to pick a favorite from this album.

Bon Iver interview w/ Sasha F-J

Justin Vernon talking w/ Sasha Frere-Jones

columna de luz

Women

This track reminds me of the Stone Roses. It's a good one but my favorite on the album is "Shaking Hand".

Danielson - Idiot Boksen

Hi-Dive 11.08.08

Zach Hill @ the Larimer Lounge

Stephen Malkmus @ Gothic in Denver

Ponytail video

Song - Beg Waves



Coming to Denver this Saturday with High Places!

Monolith pics Day 2

Snowden - said they have a new record coming out soon





Tokyo Police Club





Avett Brothers





Band of Horses





TV on the Radio





Justice - lots of bass & dancing made it difficult to hold the camera steady.

Monolith videos Day 2

Snowden - Lemon Peel (new song)



Avett Brothers - Tear Down the House



CSS - Jager Yoga



Justice - Genesis



My camera space is limited, so I didn't take a lot of video. Most of the bands I saw that I didn't video I'd taken previous videos of at other shows. http://www.youtube.com/user/clayhawkley

Monolith videos Day 1

Cut Copy - So Haunted



Mickey Avalon - Mr Right



Vampire Weekend - I Stand Corrected



My camera space is limited, so I didn't take a lot of video. Most of the bands I saw that I didn't video I'd taken previous videos of at other shows. http://www.youtube.com/user/clayhawkley

Monolith pics day 1

Blitzen Trapper - solid band / performance. Touring with Stephen Malkmus this fall - in Denver at the Gothic Nov. 6th





Cut Copy



Holy Fuck




Mickey Avalon - didn't know about this guy till the weekend before. Not really a fan. The posing girls added to his show made for some decent pics





A Place to Bury Strangers - loud. louder than I remember at the Larimer Lounge earlier in the year. The stage limited my view, but appearances isn't what this band's about. Catch the loudest band from NY Oct. 8th at the Larimer Lounge.



Vampire Weekend





Silversun Pickups - the singers voice was a step in the wrong direction from the recorded album.




Atmosphere - I know a girl that knows this guy - really well.

Monolith Day 2

From the main stage. Third row - center. Waiting for TV on the Radio
after what's already been a good day of music.

Monolith Festival

Here at the main stage waiting for Cut Copy. Just watched Blitzen
Trapper. They played several new songs from their soon to be released
album Furr (Sept 23rd.) Intended or unintended, the intro to the song Furr - vocals, guitar, harmonica - was as good a Bob Dylan impersonation I've seen. Looking forward to the new album.

Ratatat pics/video

From Tuesday's show at the Gothic. Closest thing I've seen to a hair band in a while. Two guitars and a keyboardist playing on top of pre-recorded audio ... at times rocking their heads violently. We moved upstairs for the encore and thought the sound was a lot better. Seems like I'm rarely at the Gothic, but a good thing to remember. That and there's a bathroom on the third tier that rarely has a line.




Video of the song Bird Priest from their latest album LP3 -



Thanks 1190 for the tix!

Deerhoof - The Tears and Music of Love

Deerhoof's been a favorite band for several years now, consistently putting out great albums and remaining a must see show whenever they're in town. Video from pitchfork TV - footage from a show in Tokyo this past June. First single from their new album coming Oct. 7th. Cool to see Greg Saunier on the basic drum set up again.



They're playing the Bluebird in Denver Oct. 11.

Want more info on Deerhoof? Watch a video interview from XLR8R here.

Truckasauras

Beck NPR interview

From NPR's Morning Edition - August 26, 2008

Click here