Sleigh Bells at the Vogue

Wednesday, May 25 2011

I once mistakenly thought the minimalist and rapid fire lyrics of “A/B Machines” by Sleigh Bells went, “Got my A machines on the table, got my B machines on tour”. Of course I am now more informed and aware that is not how the song goes- there's a point to this, I assure you. Right before I took the trip to the Vogue to see Sleigh Bells, easily one of my most eagerly anticipated shows of the year, I got to thinking about an interview I recently saw with Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller, discussing the group, the new album (!) and touring. They both agreed while touring had its merits, it was a gruelling endeavour that forced them out of the studio for too long, keeping new ideas and songs mostly on the back burner much to their lament. I was thinking about these two things on the way to the show, for the first time, and only for a brief moment, worried that maybe they wouldn't put their all into it, that the visceral and intimidating energy they exude would be at least in part absent from the stage. Such fears were unwarranted; Sleigh Bells was absolutely incredible. To use their own referential and slightly obnoxious tour branding- they slayed it

Song of the Week: "Sail Away" by The Rapture

One of my most anticipated albums of 2011 has got to be The Rapture's upcoming 3rd LP, The Grace of Your Love. It's been an agonizing 5 years since their last effort, the brilliant but criminally underrated Pieces of the People We Love. As the release date slowly draws near information about the album is starting to trickle out including track lists and producers- Phillipe Zdar, namely. The biggest bombshell however is that the Rapture are back on the DFA; so I'm pretty excited. To get others excited here's a clip of The Rapture performing a track from the new album called "Sail Away". It's not officially released yet as they only occasionally play it at shows so far, so the video quality could be better. But that doesn't stop it from being a damn good song. Hurry up September 6!

Review: Tune Yards- Who Kill

Listening to Who Kill, the new LP from UK artist Tune Yards, headed up by Meryl Garbus, really makes me want to employ one of those “What do you get when you cross 'this' with 'that'” kind of equations. Unfortunately, as fun and helpful as those measurements often are, in this case they proved ill equipped to define Tune Yards, leaving the listener equally ill prepared. Preparation is necessary when listening to Who Kill. While light hearted in demeanour, it is not to be taken so, as it's confoundedly condensed and chaotic structures will potentially leave you overwhelmed and maybe even annoyed. After some time, the web seems to untangle however, and one can discern strands of mostly interesting and at times dazzling music.

Garbus' voice can prove at times challenging to get a grasp on and grow accustomed to. Her range of verbosity, volume and output, pacing, and even style is constantly shifting and modulating. It does so at seemingly random and unpredictable intervals. She'll go from a traditionally linear pathway of vocal utterances, to hyperactive and frenetic tantrums of singing. In the opening track “My Country” a silky smooth and relaxed pace sharply diverts into a lighting fast spoken word section and then jumps right back. Her decibels bounce disorientingly from restrained and seductive whispers to erupting and escalating wails, as in “You Yes You”, leaving your volume setting completely helpless. Her vocal aesthetic is sometimes set to wispy tremors like in “Riotriot”, then transitions to something much more brash and bellicose in songs like “Buisnezz”. At times her voice is akin to a cross between Amy Whinehouse and Missy Elliot. She spends most of the songs brazenly and at times violently switching back and forth. Despite the many bodies and conceits she seems to occupy she always does so from a position of either serene calm or strict confidence. The result being, while it seems alien at times, her voice always seems within her control and firmly grasped by at least some kind of logic and intent, as opposed to her just screwing around with no regard for what works and what doesn't.

Playlist: Feel Good Hit Summer

Pay no attention to the currently abysmal May weather here in Vancouver. I assure you summer is coming. It just... it just has to. Any day now, right? In what is hopefully not too premature preparation for the coming sun, we're all gonna need some appropriate listening music. Of course, if you're at the beach, you're not likely to have a computer with you; so you won't be reading this, and this playlist will be of no good to you... I didn't really plan this out. I suppose you could always listen to it at home during these frustratingly common torrential down pours and pretend it's nice out. You're welcome?

Music below, with track listings underneath

1. Broken Social Scene- (7/4) Shoreline 

2. The Knife- Heart Beats

3. Vampire Weekend- White Sky

4. Kid Cudi, Best Coast, & Rostam- All Summer

5. Caribou- Sundialing

6. Delorean- Seasun

7. Modest Mouse- Gravity Rides Everything

8. Little Dragon- Runabout

9. Mark Mothersbaugh- Let Me Tell You About My Boat

10. Animal Collective- Summertime Clothes

11. Miike Snow- Cult Logic

12. Arcade Fire- Haiti

13. Ween- Ocean Man

14. M.I.A.- Amazon

15. The Russian Futurists- Paul Simon

16. Metric- Waves (B side)

17. Panda Bear- Alsatian Darn

18. Wavves- King of the Beach

19. Broken Social Scene- Pacific Theme

Fleet Foxes at the Vogue

Friday, April 29

After something as monumental and landmark as the final LCD Soundsystem show, seeing Fleet Foxes at the Vogue seemed a little underwhelming. I feel hesitant opening with such a descriptor, and while it's certainly not my thesis on the matter (if I even need one), it was and is an opinion that stubbornly refuses to yield to other much more positive thoughts. Rest assured, this is merely comparative analysis and should not be used to infer that the show was in any way disappointing- it was quite good. Not every show needs to be a superlative spectacle- a grand finale as James Murphy and company just put on. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but shrug the feeling. Part of the issue is that Fleet Foxes' particular brand of pop folk is a partly subdued and mostly intimate offering; a smaller venue like the Media Club seems more appropriate for their stylings. But the Fleet Foxes brand has expanded beyond the diminutive proportions of such tiny environments resulting in something of an unsolvable paradox for the group. Their songs as constructions and intentions are not designed for larger venues, but tell that to their ever growing legion of followers and fans.

Top 10 Albums of 2010- Part 2

Yes, yes the second part of this list is very late; part one was posted way back in February. I initially had every intention of posting part two a week or so later, but school- finals, papers- got in the way for the last few months. Anyway it's done now. Better late than never? Ya, sorry.

5- Beach House- Teen Dream

Victoria Legrand understands the communicative capabilities of a song better than many. In Teen Dream, she shows her mastery of the medium. Speaking in terms of vague memories and personal metaphors, she has crafted a dazzlingly written and performed collection of songs. Her voice and words are deeply imbedded with meaning, intent, reminiscence, and heartbreak. But what makes Teen Dream such a stunning thing to listen to is she doesn't over sentimentalize the past or remember things through the hazy cloak of nostalgia. It's a refreshingly rationale and balanced memorializing of her past experiences; all of the good, and all of the bad. She speaks of a boy she new better than any one in “Zebra”. She realized as good as he seemed, it was all a deception. Not an oasis as she sings, but a mirage. It's a eloquent metaphor that warns us to acknowledge all the blemishes and excruciating truths of the past, not to gloss over them with some fictional history- or teen dream if you will. The point of this album isn't some starry eyed half remembered journey down memory lane. Rather it's a difficult, at times agonizing endeavour to confront all of the awful memories that linger in her mind. In “Norway” she attempts to recall a past love, confidently revealing it for what it was, “The beast he comes for you, the hunter of a lonely heart”. It's a far cry from something more analogous to a fairy tale romance. While Legrand shines a penetrating and revealing light on her past, she romanticizes it as well. She acknowledges the devastating events for what they were, but also aware, at times blissfully, of the character these events have forged her into. Not a jaded, cynical shell of a person, but someone fully in tune with her own self. Capable of absorbing the depths of misery but also experiencing pure elation. This mixture of opposites swirl together in a surprisingly harmonious fashion in both her voice and words. In “Walk in the Park” she boldly states “In a matter of time, you will slip from my mind”; despite the damaging implications of such, she sings in an almost triumphant manner. Listening to her purge herself of these demons conveys a wonderful sense of catharsis, and only after she spends most of the album doing this, can she once again give herself over to the hopeless romantic in her. The final tracks, “Real Love” and “Take Care” are about as reassuring and comforting as a song would ever need to be. It's all the more endearing in the context of the harrowing path she had to follow to get there. It's funny that she calls the album Teen Dream, as it is much more seasoned and devoid of immature hormonal myopia that taints so many other ballads and dreamy offerings of less weathered musicians.