3/27/2006

performance :: animal collective

on saturday i went to bowery ballroom to see animal collective's final show of their tour. last year's show at webster hall was pretty disappointing, more due to webster hall. i try to avoid shows there. bowery has always been my favorite backdrop for nyc performances. the best sound and an intimate size for performance.

i dare say the performance one of the best animal collective shows. deakin's and avey tare's stage presence has become stronger and stronger. they are really coming into character, mastering their own mannerisms. i was also stunned by avey tare's voice. his ability to switch from falsetto to screams to melodic yells fascinates me, and i think this was the most developed vocal presentation i've seen from him.

:: watch short clips of show ::


i also heard the most new material i've heard from the show. i've been hearing 'feels' songs for the last two years, so i was really eager to hear more new material. they played about 5 or so new songs in a two hour set. most of the new songs following the same format of tribal drums and guitars. the night had a really endearing moment in which the crowd sang happy birthday to geologist. overall it was a great show. animal collective is the first band i've seen grow from small venues to large shows and audience. it's been a long road, the first time i saw animal collective was mabye 4 years ago at tonic. a part of the intimacy has been lost, but at the same time i celebrate their well deserved success and am eager to hear what comes next for them.

listen to show
:: clip of safer
:: peace bone / we tigers
:: geologist's birthday
:: people
:: street flash
:: grass
:: purple bottle
:: fireworks

posted by Unknown @ Monday, March 27, 2006 8 comments

3/21/2006

performance :: shoegaze returns

japanese shoegaze comes to brooklyn. last night i went to trash bar to check out luminous orange. last week they played a showcase at sxsw in texas. this was an impromptu show booked right before they head back for japan. luminous orange was amazing on stage. shoegaze music has always had a distant relationship with me, never coming to full blossom. only existing on headphones. how long have fans been waiting for another my bloody valentine release? it's been so long, i almost forgot. after seeing luminous orange last night i remembered how much i loved that sound. the pumping drums, chainsaw-in-a-hurricane guitars, and sultry vocals. all i wanted to do was run home and hook up my big muff and mxr pedals and bleed distortion into the night.



luminous orange sail above their influences, where other shoegaze bands are just dependent imitations. the band was so tight on stage. guitarist, fujiii playing this guitar with extreme velocity, and rie, the lead vocalist, keeping a calm and focused stage presence. this show was definitely the best kept secret i've seen this year. all my friends that came loved the show. luminous orange will soon have a new release in the usa on trevor's record label, music related. keep an eye out for it!


:: view short video clips of their live performance ::

posted by Unknown @ Tuesday, March 21, 2006 3 comments

3/17/2006

performance :: twi comes out of hiding

last night i went to bushwick for the first time to see anthony play an electronic set at blue monday. blue monday is a cafe/thrift store/art house that features experimental music and of the indie types on certain evenings. i'm not sure if this show was only for twi, but rolyn was sure to point out that twi hasn't played in a year and we were all thrilled to see anthony on stage again.

che and rolyn of the true primes took stage first; their music is a blend of noise improv, loop pedals, beats, and vocals. their stage presence was almost like bro and sis quarreling in good fun, pushing on each other and smiling. che was playing some kind of oscillator machine, maybe a signal generator or something, i dunno, pretty cool.

twi's set was a beautiful one piece electronic blend. mixing in his various recordings of ambient, electronics, and samples. some of his pieces i recognized. and i was glad he squeezed in some vocal recordings for a second. twi's music has two sides, his electronic field noise recordings, and then his childishly melodic and trained vocal and acoustic works. it's a great contrast.


the set was ended by a charming all-girl group from missouri called the leah quinelle all stars featuring happy. their songs really put a smile on my face, cute, 2 - 3 minute twee pop tunes, with endearing vocal harmonies. they all rotated instruments, each switch from vocals to drums to banjo and guitar.

::listen to the blue monday set::
true primes
:: untitled
:: best friend

twi
:: untitled

the leah quinelle all stars featuring happy
:: that's love
:: house of broken hearts

posted by Unknown @ Friday, March 17, 2006 0 comments

3/13/2006

music video :: doll boy

production for alias pail's first music video is underway! we've been doing story boarding for about 3 weeks, and have a set filming day in 2 weeks. woo hoo. we'll be doing a music video for the alias pail rendition of my pal foot foot's original, "doll boy." jim and chia have been working hard on storyboarding and organizing the video's plot and visuals. jim is the filming director, having work experience from years in tv production. chia is the creative director and handling animation. she received her masters from sva. we're all really excited about this project, so keep in touch to see updates on the video's production process. you can listen to the full song of dollboy at alias pail's purevolume account.

posted by Unknown @ Monday, March 13, 2006 0 comments

3/03/2006

aziz ansari :: comedian/indie spokesperson

indie rock? pretentious? no... the same obsession as those role playing magic card kids, only now for bands destined not to play on MTV (maybe just the OC?). ya gotta laugh real hard at the assumed intellect of indie music! we all love making fun of the fandom or the bands. i never take it too seriously. aziz ansari, a rising young comedian often flavors his acts to indie rock audiences. check out this hilarious clip shot at othermusic by human giant. f*ing hilarious. the background music is ariel pink; see post below.


:: watch video clip::

posted by Unknown @ Friday, March 03, 2006 0 comments