love and space
it's been a busy week of shows for me and I guess I'm paying by spending the weekend at home with a hilarious sore throat.
it started last sunday with hank and lily and the uncas at the queens. the uncas played first and last, I just caught their first set, the highlight of which for me was the two johnny cash covers they did, oh and the guy playing his guitar with a drill and a power saw, fuck I almost forgot about that, it was pretty good. then hank and lily put on their show. I was as moved as people told me I would be. I bought their cd, the road to new orleans. but, I don't enjoy the cd like the live show. I usually don't go for really theatrical style music, you know songs with fantastical stories and characters and drama, and hearing their songs recorded I find them a little silly, whereas live I'm 100% there and in it. that's just on initial listening though, so, I might yet be won over. but, see them, if you haven't. I heard they are going to be playing an all-ages show here sometime soon.
wednesday I headed to vancouver to see BARR and animal collective at the commodore, a thoroughly wonderful experience. BARR started the show off with a solo set of inspirational ranting, that is how I'm describing it today. I love this man.
then first nation, a trio of girls with harmonizing oohs and ahhs and guitars going pling pling pling in soft clash fashion and some other sounds too played, and the girl that drummed had really great hair. it was just kind of long and messy with a big clump of bangs in her face. is that insulting, to spend as much time talking about the band's hair as their music? I just thought, if I get tired of my hair again, like I did recently, I might try and go for that look. sometimes a haircut makes a big impression on a person. they were nice, I will try to seek out their music in future days.
animal collective makes me freak out. that is the most accurate thing I can say about them. I get this physical response where I sort of tense up and twitch ecstatically, bite my lip and clench my fingers and tilt my head. I can name some other bands to which I've had a somewhat similar response: wolf parade, dustin and garret, sunset rubdown and hot loins. I guess it's something about electronic frequencies clashing with voices and noises and I don't know, evoking a level of life that I am not everyday living on. but these other bands don't do it so physically to the extent that animal collective does. I sometimes think that their noising about, at the times when they stray from laughing hooks and pop harmonies, should bore me as it does in alot of music when they jam about and explore sound at great length--I start to relegate it to nice background music--but with animal collective it's like foreplay so slowly building intensity and anticipation to ecstatic bursts of yelling catchiness. this is one of those shows I will remember. freaking out blissfully in the front row as they freaked out with so much noise, so much in front of me. I bought their double cd spirit they're gone, spirit they've vanished after the show because I decided I could not live without having everything they've ever done.
DOWNLOAD: animal collective: the purple bottle
then on thursday nanaimo was blessed with the presence of akron/family. I'd spread alot of high praise and was pleased to find that everybody's expectations were surpassed except my own, because I expected them to be that moving and amazing (I know how moved my brother was by seeing radiohead live, and he said akron/family was better). I love how they range from folk band to. . . what do you call that when people make NOISE like that? I'm not great with labels. but, it's ecstatic, spiritual in something like a punk rock way. I use the term punk rock very liberally. and then there was the chant/sing-along circle with all of us up at the front who were paying attention. it's funny, I heard that they sold out lucky bar in victoria, and you know every person in that packed place was into it and they'd be surrounded by a big (ok, not that big) crowd when they walked out into the audience. but people must figure that anybody playing at the cambie can't be that special, because the back of the bar was full of people who paid cover and weren't even aware of what they were missing. but that just made it more intimate and special for those of us who shared it.
all that and I didn't even go out this weekend. I did irresponsibly skip out on both the controller.controller shows today. I heard it was a pretty good time. I was sorry to miss you say party! we say die!. they're so fun.
I also bought three cd's this week, which I will need hard later this month when I run out of money and food and learn to live on rock and roll alone.
now playing: collapsing opposites - try
it started last sunday with hank and lily and the uncas at the queens. the uncas played first and last, I just caught their first set, the highlight of which for me was the two johnny cash covers they did, oh and the guy playing his guitar with a drill and a power saw, fuck I almost forgot about that, it was pretty good. then hank and lily put on their show. I was as moved as people told me I would be. I bought their cd, the road to new orleans. but, I don't enjoy the cd like the live show. I usually don't go for really theatrical style music, you know songs with fantastical stories and characters and drama, and hearing their songs recorded I find them a little silly, whereas live I'm 100% there and in it. that's just on initial listening though, so, I might yet be won over. but, see them, if you haven't. I heard they are going to be playing an all-ages show here sometime soon.
wednesday I headed to vancouver to see BARR and animal collective at the commodore, a thoroughly wonderful experience. BARR started the show off with a solo set of inspirational ranting, that is how I'm describing it today. I love this man.
then first nation, a trio of girls with harmonizing oohs and ahhs and guitars going pling pling pling in soft clash fashion and some other sounds too played, and the girl that drummed had really great hair. it was just kind of long and messy with a big clump of bangs in her face. is that insulting, to spend as much time talking about the band's hair as their music? I just thought, if I get tired of my hair again, like I did recently, I might try and go for that look. sometimes a haircut makes a big impression on a person. they were nice, I will try to seek out their music in future days.
animal collective makes me freak out. that is the most accurate thing I can say about them. I get this physical response where I sort of tense up and twitch ecstatically, bite my lip and clench my fingers and tilt my head. I can name some other bands to which I've had a somewhat similar response: wolf parade, dustin and garret, sunset rubdown and hot loins. I guess it's something about electronic frequencies clashing with voices and noises and I don't know, evoking a level of life that I am not everyday living on. but these other bands don't do it so physically to the extent that animal collective does. I sometimes think that their noising about, at the times when they stray from laughing hooks and pop harmonies, should bore me as it does in alot of music when they jam about and explore sound at great length--I start to relegate it to nice background music--but with animal collective it's like foreplay so slowly building intensity and anticipation to ecstatic bursts of yelling catchiness. this is one of those shows I will remember. freaking out blissfully in the front row as they freaked out with so much noise, so much in front of me. I bought their double cd spirit they're gone, spirit they've vanished after the show because I decided I could not live without having everything they've ever done.
DOWNLOAD: animal collective: the purple bottle
then on thursday nanaimo was blessed with the presence of akron/family. I'd spread alot of high praise and was pleased to find that everybody's expectations were surpassed except my own, because I expected them to be that moving and amazing (I know how moved my brother was by seeing radiohead live, and he said akron/family was better). I love how they range from folk band to. . . what do you call that when people make NOISE like that? I'm not great with labels. but, it's ecstatic, spiritual in something like a punk rock way. I use the term punk rock very liberally. and then there was the chant/sing-along circle with all of us up at the front who were paying attention. it's funny, I heard that they sold out lucky bar in victoria, and you know every person in that packed place was into it and they'd be surrounded by a big (ok, not that big) crowd when they walked out into the audience. but people must figure that anybody playing at the cambie can't be that special, because the back of the bar was full of people who paid cover and weren't even aware of what they were missing. but that just made it more intimate and special for those of us who shared it.
all that and I didn't even go out this weekend. I did irresponsibly skip out on both the controller.controller shows today. I heard it was a pretty good time. I was sorry to miss you say party! we say die!. they're so fun.
I also bought three cd's this week, which I will need hard later this month when I run out of money and food and learn to live on rock and roll alone.
now playing: collapsing opposites - try
posted by Erin OK at 12:37 AM
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