Er, yeah. Just wanted to rap 'bout some of my favourite live moments from '09, which I had originally intended to do as part of my previous post(s). Oh well!
HANDS DOWN BEST CONCERT EXPERIENCE OF THE YEAR/MY LIFE AWARD
All Tomorrow's Parties 2009 - Kutsher's, Monticello, New York
All in all, it was one of those events, one of those eye-opening, not-life-changing-but-certainly-uh-really-great experiences. Really, it was a bit of a dream come true: 3 days in New York (and actually only my second time out of this country), staying at a hotel with an absurdly fantastic line-up of artists, playing music all-day (hats off to Oneida, who holed up in the bar the last day of the festival and literally jammed all day). Boredoms, Suicide, Deerhunter, Atlas Sound, Melvins, Boris, Shellac, Circulatory System, Black Moth Super Rainbow, The Feelies, Dirty Three, Grouper, Bob Mould with No Age, The Jesus Lizard, David Cross... it feels surreal just typing the [incomplete] list, but seriously... just, holy shit. I also left early on Monday morning, having bought bus tickets for the evening, so I could spend the day in New York City. Being the complete dork that I am I did spend half of it record shopping, but caught the essential sites by and large. Can't wait to do it again.
Highlight: My girlfriend asking Dominick Fernow (aka Prurient, and the owner of Hosptial Records, hands-down the best (er, only) store I've ever been to for noise/drone/whatever stuff - check it out if you're ever in the city) if he knew of any good ice cream places nearby, a question which he answered thoughtfully and politely, instead of screaming distorted S&M mantras at us like I had braced myself for.
BEST VALUE AWARD
Broken Social Scene - Harbourfront Centre, Toronto
Broken Social Scene is infinitely kind to their hometown. Last time I saw them in Toronto (the November previous to this show), they played for two-and-a-half hours, and the whole gang was there, even Emily Haines. And for some reasons, Brock Isaac from Modest Mouse was there too, and played a couple of his songs with the whole BSS crew backing him up. So how on Earth do you top that? How's abouts a free, outdoor show right on the lakeshore? And how about playing for two hours, bringing in literally every BSS collaborator (including the oft-absent Feist and filming the show for an upcoming movie? Hot damn!
Highlight: The all-too-rare performance of "Almost Crimes".
"OH MY GOD, IT'S REALLY THEM" AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE FIELD OF APPEASING MY FANBOYISM
SONIC YOUTH - Massey Hall, Toronto
I want to call Sonic Youth the most "solid" band I listen to, but "solid" carries with it impressions of overwhelming adequacy - I mean "solid" in the unwavering sense, like an old friend or favourite nightstand ("favourite nightstand"...?). Really, I can't flat-out say I "hate" any particular Sonic Outing: their occasionally ill-recieved early albums are incredible, Daydream Nation is one of very few records I dare call "perfect" (or, if you had talked to me in the month leading up to the show, "best fucking record ever goddamn recorded, motherfucker! SCREAMING SONIC LUV!"), their "pop" records are damn catchy and I think, in all seriousness and earnestly not just to be contrary to popular opinion and revel in my own fandom, NYC Ghosts & Flowers is a really great record (really). Ok, maybe The Eternal was just "solid" in the accepted meaning of the word ("Antenna" is grand, though), but they killed it live.
Sonic Highlight: "Death Valley '69". THEY DID "DEATH VALLEY '69".
DOUCHIEST AUDIENCE
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE - Sound Academy, Toronto
One part "recent superstardom", one part "inappropriate opening act", and one part "shitty venue" all came together into one decidedly unenjoyable mess of an evening, explained as follows:
Part one: I'm not going to be one of those "they suck since they got famous derp derp" asshats, it just so happens that Animal Collective changed as they got famous. Compare Merriweather Post Pavilion to Feels. Now imagine which would be more exciting live. The dancefloor-friendly anthems on MPP would probably be the obvious choice, but fact of the matter is that watching three young men fiddle with synthesizers for an hour isn't all that thrilling, and for some strange reason people only really got into the groove during "My Girls" and "Brother Sport", if "got into the groove" is taken as "spilled beer and stumbled in rhythm, sort of".
Part two: I like Grouper, I really do. I'd love to see her play in, say, a church or gallery, somewhere where the audience can sit and enjoy the atmospheric reverb-folk properly. Grouper should not be opening to a crowd with beer and "My Girls" and the inability to muster up the respect not to boo.
Part three: The Sound Academy is just the worst venue in the city, period. Nigh inaccessible without a car and stupidly laid out (if you're in the front row, it will literally take you 10-15 minutes to get out of the place). Blah.
OTHER RAD SHOWS OF 2009
THE HAPPINESS PROJECT - The Music Gallery, Toronto
Warm-and-fuzzy music by hyper-friendly musicians, at one of the more intimate and well run venues in the city.
MV+EE with WOODS - Whippersnapper Gallery, Toronto
Tiny space, tiny audience, but loud as hell and an all-around hippie-friendly, space-folky good time.
"TALES OF THE UNCANNY" - Yonge & Dundas Square, Toronto
Do Make Say Think, Final Fantasy and Robert Lippok joined forces to play a soundtrack to a silent horror film at a free outdoor show in the heart of downtown Toronto. Amazing, in concept and in execution.
FUCKED UP with WOMEN and VIVIAN GIRLS - The Phoenix, Toronto
Look, just go see Fucked Up if you ever get the chance, ok?
Ok, done reflecting - future ho!
music is ok
Showing posts with label Animal Collective. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Animal Collective. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
ALL TOMORROW'S PARTIES: PART TWO (Saturday)
Let's get right into things: Sufjan Stevens kicked things off with by playing Seven Swans through; I can't say I particularly care about Mr Stevens (nothing personal), but it was a solid set of lazy folk that was by all means enjoyable, and probably something much more if you cared about the man/album.
I really want to love Grouper. On record, the dreamy/droney cave-born acoustic-thing works wonderfully. This is late night headphone music at its finest. As such, live it loses a bit of what makes it so great, since instead of walking through the snow at 2 am contemplating life and other such deep meaningful things, you're standing around with a bunch of other folks staring at Liz Harris for 40 minutes. I think I'd dig this a lot more if she met me behind an old church and played at midnight, but in a concert hall, it loses something.
Circulatory System carries the rainbow-flame acid torch passed on from Olivia Tremor Control and played a lively set, with a comfortable mix of catchy pop and all-out psychedelic jams. Again, they continued the early-afternoon theme of "enjoyable but not remarkable", but [also] again, it ain't nothin' against the band. It's entirely possible I was too excited for the latter half of the day, but that would be unprofessional, wouldn't it?
& alas, no surprise Jeff Mangum sightings. Dang.
Bradford Cox played his first set of the day as Atlas Sound on the decidedly more intimate second stage. Sure, on any "technically" level this was a fairly atrocious set with numerous technical problems and restarts and "hold on just a minute"s, but fuck it, I love Bradford Cox. He could run over my dog and I would not be able to get mad at him. Infinitely friendly, charming, and a great performer. One of the festival highlights for me.
Unfortunately, due to major jet-lag in my travelling company, we had to retire for a bit of the afternoon, but there was nothing I was particularly dying to see, but I have heard that Black Dice and El-P kicked out some fairly serious jams.
Shellac welcomed us back and nearly killed us, easily eclipsing every band in terms of volume during sound check alone. I'm not gear-heady enough to tell you what kind of amps they were using, but it looked like some sort of military equipment: a large, chrome box for an amp head with a solitary oversized dial on the front. As expected, they were tight as hell, kicked out some riff-heavy tunes and generally straight-up^rocked a lot harder than any of the bands there. You know, in that "fuck art, bang yr head" kinda way. No nonsense. Well, as no nonsense as "Squirrel Song" can get.
As the evening came to close, I get the feeling that whatever mastermind-cum-evil genius planned this festival twisted his moustache and cackled maniacally as festival goers were forced to choose between a serious conflict: Deerhunter or The Melvins? Fuuuuuck. After great, great deliberation, I decided my love for the Melvins was too deep and had been going on since middle school and I could not pass up the chance to finally see them live. I was able to catch the start of Deerhunter's set, though; "Cryptograms" and "Never Stops" lead me to believe I missed great things. Dang.
But hey, it's the goddamn Melvins. The Melvins! Fuck! They did not disappoint at all, even if I still find the two drummers thing a bit superfluous. A great mix of new and old stuff, including some of my favourite tunes from each era ("The Talking Horse" and "Hooch", respectively), but with such an expansive discography, you really can't please everyone, you know? (I was secretly holding out for "Honey Bucket", but what can ya do?) That being said, that's by no means a knock against them; they've been at it for 25 years now and it definitely shows. Plus, I caught an interview with King Buzzo earlier in the day, and it really makes me wish his legitimately hilarious banter carried on to the stage.
The night closed with Animal Collective, a band which I want to like but infuriates me to no end. Feels is a fantastic record. Their earlier, more experimental material circa-Here Comes the Indian has some great hidden gems ("Hey Light"). They even have some killer pop tunes in their recent discography ("Peacebone", "Brothersport"). But live? It's one giant piss-off. They've seemingly abandoned everything pre-Merriweather Post Pavilion, save for "Fireworks" and ditched any semblance of organic music, sticking exclusively to samplers, save for the rare guitar. What results is a bunch of overly-indulgent jams on frankly annoying loops, and with a hilarious amount of reverb and delay on the vocals rendering the hooks indistinguishable from the electronic clusterfuck. Great songs like "My Girls" lose their punch and dynamics. Garbled, unfocused, and frankly boring. Which is a shame, because on record, even their new material is largely enjoyable; minimal but still engaging pop songs.
PART THREE, THE CONCLUSION, COMING SOON.
I really want to love Grouper. On record, the dreamy/droney cave-born acoustic-thing works wonderfully. This is late night headphone music at its finest. As such, live it loses a bit of what makes it so great, since instead of walking through the snow at 2 am contemplating life and other such deep meaningful things, you're standing around with a bunch of other folks staring at Liz Harris for 40 minutes. I think I'd dig this a lot more if she met me behind an old church and played at midnight, but in a concert hall, it loses something.
Circulatory System carries the rainbow-flame acid torch passed on from Olivia Tremor Control and played a lively set, with a comfortable mix of catchy pop and all-out psychedelic jams. Again, they continued the early-afternoon theme of "enjoyable but not remarkable", but [also] again, it ain't nothin' against the band. It's entirely possible I was too excited for the latter half of the day, but that would be unprofessional, wouldn't it?
& alas, no surprise Jeff Mangum sightings. Dang.
Bradford Cox played his first set of the day as Atlas Sound on the decidedly more intimate second stage. Sure, on any "technically" level this was a fairly atrocious set with numerous technical problems and restarts and "hold on just a minute"s, but fuck it, I love Bradford Cox. He could run over my dog and I would not be able to get mad at him. Infinitely friendly, charming, and a great performer. One of the festival highlights for me.
Unfortunately, due to major jet-lag in my travelling company, we had to retire for a bit of the afternoon, but there was nothing I was particularly dying to see, but I have heard that Black Dice and El-P kicked out some fairly serious jams.
Shellac welcomed us back and nearly killed us, easily eclipsing every band in terms of volume during sound check alone. I'm not gear-heady enough to tell you what kind of amps they were using, but it looked like some sort of military equipment: a large, chrome box for an amp head with a solitary oversized dial on the front. As expected, they were tight as hell, kicked out some riff-heavy tunes and generally straight-up^rocked a lot harder than any of the bands there. You know, in that "fuck art, bang yr head" kinda way. No nonsense. Well, as no nonsense as "Squirrel Song" can get.
As the evening came to close, I get the feeling that whatever mastermind-cum-evil genius planned this festival twisted his moustache and cackled maniacally as festival goers were forced to choose between a serious conflict: Deerhunter or The Melvins? Fuuuuuck. After great, great deliberation, I decided my love for the Melvins was too deep and had been going on since middle school and I could not pass up the chance to finally see them live. I was able to catch the start of Deerhunter's set, though; "Cryptograms" and "Never Stops" lead me to believe I missed great things. Dang.
But hey, it's the goddamn Melvins. The Melvins! Fuck! They did not disappoint at all, even if I still find the two drummers thing a bit superfluous. A great mix of new and old stuff, including some of my favourite tunes from each era ("The Talking Horse" and "Hooch", respectively), but with such an expansive discography, you really can't please everyone, you know? (I was secretly holding out for "Honey Bucket", but what can ya do?) That being said, that's by no means a knock against them; they've been at it for 25 years now and it definitely shows. Plus, I caught an interview with King Buzzo earlier in the day, and it really makes me wish his legitimately hilarious banter carried on to the stage.
The night closed with Animal Collective, a band which I want to like but infuriates me to no end. Feels is a fantastic record. Their earlier, more experimental material circa-Here Comes the Indian has some great hidden gems ("Hey Light"). They even have some killer pop tunes in their recent discography ("Peacebone", "Brothersport"). But live? It's one giant piss-off. They've seemingly abandoned everything pre-Merriweather Post Pavilion, save for "Fireworks" and ditched any semblance of organic music, sticking exclusively to samplers, save for the rare guitar. What results is a bunch of overly-indulgent jams on frankly annoying loops, and with a hilarious amount of reverb and delay on the vocals rendering the hooks indistinguishable from the electronic clusterfuck. Great songs like "My Girls" lose their punch and dynamics. Garbled, unfocused, and frankly boring. Which is a shame, because on record, even their new material is largely enjoyable; minimal but still engaging pop songs.
PART THREE, THE CONCLUSION, COMING SOON.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
SHOW REVIEW: Animal Collective w/ Grouper, May 16 @ the Sound Academy (Toronto)
Yes, yes, Animal Collective are the hipster garabe I've ever heard, but I wanted to believe it was just the Internet being the hate machine that it is wont to be. But fuck, Animal Collective have amassed the douchiest fan base ever, and yes, it's because of Merriweather Post Pavilion (and no, it is not the next Pet Sounds, goddammit.)
Don't get me wrong: I earnestly do like the band, and have for quite sometime. The last time I saw them was back in 2007 when they were on the verge of releasing Strawberry Jam. It was a good show, by all accounts: good sound, good set, good crowd.
Yeah, good crowd. I wish this remained true but alas, no. Grouper opened the show with a (slightly overlong for an opening act) set which I wish I could say I enjoyed, but it was drowned out by drunken chatter, sober chatter, booing, cries of "ANIMAL COLLECCCCTIVE!" and frankly disrespectful behaviour all around". I hate to sound like that bitter old man telling all the kids to git off his lawn (again), but seriously, some ounce of decency would be nice.
When Animal Collective did finally come on, I was pleasantly surprised they opened with "Chocolate Girl"; I'd like to think it was a conscious choice as a big "fuck you" to everyone there for "My Girls", and it did seem to leave the crowd a little disarmed (though it, unfortunately, didn't stop random "WOOOO!"s in the middle of the goddamn song). And guess what, folks? Your shitty cell phone pictures are going to look just like everyone else's. Put away your phone and enjoy the show. Did you really pay $25 so you could text in a new, exciting locale?
Though speaking of "My Girls", it was abundantly clear that that was why the majority of the crowd was there; that was when people starting dancing, that is when people did (could only?) sing along, that was when people decided it was a good idea to rush the stage. Same during "Brother Sport". And "Summertime Clothes". Hey, wait a second...
All in all, it was a decent set with decent sound (highlights being "Leaf House", "Comfy in Nautica" and the extended "Fireworks" jam) marred by the most obnoxious crowd I've ever counted. And as if I needed more reason to hate the Sound Academy (besides its absurd location, bottleneck exit and overpriced shows), what sort of venue allows drinks to be taken into the main concert area? The designated drinking area is designated as to keep drinks out of the show so you aren't stomping on cans or getting Heineken spill on your legs.
Fine enough show, but I'm not sure if I could deal with another crowd like that should they come back to town.
Setlist:
1. Chocolate Girl
2. Comfy In Nautica
3. What Would I Want Sky
4. Lion In A Coma
5. My Girls
6. Guys Eyes
7. Fireworks
8. Leaf House
9. Brother Sport
Encore:
10. Chores
11. Summertime Clothes
Don't get me wrong: I earnestly do like the band, and have for quite sometime. The last time I saw them was back in 2007 when they were on the verge of releasing Strawberry Jam. It was a good show, by all accounts: good sound, good set, good crowd.
Yeah, good crowd. I wish this remained true but alas, no. Grouper opened the show with a (slightly overlong for an opening act) set which I wish I could say I enjoyed, but it was drowned out by drunken chatter, sober chatter, booing, cries of "ANIMAL COLLECCCCTIVE!" and frankly disrespectful behaviour all around". I hate to sound like that bitter old man telling all the kids to git off his lawn (again), but seriously, some ounce of decency would be nice.
When Animal Collective did finally come on, I was pleasantly surprised they opened with "Chocolate Girl"; I'd like to think it was a conscious choice as a big "fuck you" to everyone there for "My Girls", and it did seem to leave the crowd a little disarmed (though it, unfortunately, didn't stop random "WOOOO!"s in the middle of the goddamn song). And guess what, folks? Your shitty cell phone pictures are going to look just like everyone else's. Put away your phone and enjoy the show. Did you really pay $25 so you could text in a new, exciting locale?
Though speaking of "My Girls", it was abundantly clear that that was why the majority of the crowd was there; that was when people starting dancing, that is when people did (could only?) sing along, that was when people decided it was a good idea to rush the stage. Same during "Brother Sport". And "Summertime Clothes". Hey, wait a second...
All in all, it was a decent set with decent sound (highlights being "Leaf House", "Comfy in Nautica" and the extended "Fireworks" jam) marred by the most obnoxious crowd I've ever counted. And as if I needed more reason to hate the Sound Academy (besides its absurd location, bottleneck exit and overpriced shows), what sort of venue allows drinks to be taken into the main concert area? The designated drinking area is designated as to keep drinks out of the show so you aren't stomping on cans or getting Heineken spill on your legs.
Fine enough show, but I'm not sure if I could deal with another crowd like that should they come back to town.
Setlist:
1. Chocolate Girl
2. Comfy In Nautica
3. What Would I Want Sky
4. Lion In A Coma
5. My Girls
6. Guys Eyes
7. Fireworks
8. Leaf House
9. Brother Sport
Encore:
10. Chores
11. Summertime Clothes
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