On Tuesday night, I headed over to the Black Cat to see Girls and Real Estate, two bands that have been getting much love from experts in the field of hypertext as of late. Real Estate exceeded my expectations in just about every way; Girls, not so much. David Malitz over at the Washington Post really savaged the latter (sample burn: “Girls played an hour-long set that was amateur in quality and execution and not even engaging enough to qualify as boring”) and while I agree with the general sentiment of his scathing review, I honestly didn’t think that they were all that bad—though their live show could clearly use some more time in the oven. My full review and photos can be found at PopMatters.
So I’ve been pretty busy lately—too busy to update this site, apparently. Here’s what I’ve been up to. I reviewed Atlas Sound’s fantastic new record Logos for PopMatters. A few days before the album’s street date, I also photographed and reviewed Atlas Sound’s show with Broadcast at the Black Cat, which was one of the better shows I’ve seen this year. Later that week, I caught the Dirty Projectors at the Black Cat (review/photos here) and was thrilled to find that their live show has improved considerably since the last time I saw them. This week, I reviewed and photographed Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Verizon Center. The show was outstanding but my photos were not, likely because I showed up at the venue with a 50mm lens, only to find that the photogs were stationed behind the soundboard, 100 feet from the stage (basically, I pulled the photographic equivalent of bringing a knife to a gun fight). Finally, I was interviewed in Washingtonian Magazine, for an article on DCbeer, which is a site I take pictures for sometimes.
So, I’m pretty sure that it was fate that brought Sunny Day Real Estate back together. To wit: the band played the 9:30 Club here in Washington on 9/30 and hit the stage at 9:30 p.m. sharp. Coincidence? I think not. I was too busy enjoying the hell out of the show with my little brother (who had flown in specifically for the occasion) to document it, though I did cover the band’s NYC show the previous Sunday. My photos from that set can be found at Stereogum and my full-length review can be read at PopMatters. Here’s hoping that the band heeds the numerological signs and keeps this reunion train rolling for as long as possible.
Tongue in cheek
Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post for Public Knowledge about a hopelessly out of touch presentation that Paramount Pictures COO Frederick Huntsberry recently gave at an FCC broadband workshop. Mike Masnick over at Techdirt ran with the story, quoting my blog post rather extensively in his write-up. From there TechCrunch, CrunchGear, NewTeeVee, Broadband Reports and the Hollywood Reporter all picked up the story, much to the chagrin, I’m sure, of the folks at Paramount. For those of you keeping score at home, Devin Coldewey at CrunchGear won the all-important headline contest, with this alliterative little number: “Paramount proprietor polemicizes poorly on piracy at public policy presentation.” Now doesn’t that just roll off the tongue?
Speaking of tongues, I also reviewed Dizzee Rascal’s latest LP, Tongue N’ Cheek for PopMatters this week. I hate to rain on Dizzee’s parade—the album has spawned three #1 singles and counting in the U.K. and the British press has been falling over themselves to praise the record—but I just don’t think that the radio-friendly Tongue N’ Cheek lives up to the high standards that Rascal has set for himself. Still, my hat goes off to any emcee who can do a song with Tiësto and still come out on the other side smelling fresh.
As an ’80s baby, I’m fairy used to having my sense of nostalgia tugged at by shrewd marketers (note to Hollywood execs: I’m still waiting for a “Dinosaucers” remake) but I’ve got to say, the recent avalanche of reissues of albums from my youth/early adolescence has me feeling kind of old. While I suppose it makes perfect sense from a business standpoint—my generation is, perhaps, the last generation that grew up with the understanding that music costs money—it’s a little weird seeing a record like Hail to the Thief get reissued only six years after it was first released. That said, I can totally dig these Sunny Day Real Estate reissues, not because they come with a wealth of bonus material (they don’t) but because Diary and LP2 are more than ripe for revisiting and deserve to be heard by a wider audience (i.e. the emo kids of today—get off my lawn, you kids!). My review of the SDRE reissues can be found here. On a completely unrelated note, I was watching Dan Harris interview David Bazan on ABC News yesterday and as if it wasn’t surreal enough seeing David Bazan being interviewed on ABC News, I realized that Harris indirectly references my review of Curse Your Branches toward the end there, when he congratulates Bazan for getting an “8” from PopMatters. Dave, I can send you an ink jet printout of that review, suitable for framing, if you like.
Last Thursday, I trekked out to northeast D.C. to watch David Bazan perform in the living room of a row house for a crowd of 30 kids. It was easily one of the most intimate, powerful performances I’ve witnessed in a long time. Bazan may no longer identify himself as a Christian but it’s hard to avoid religious metaphors when describing his performances: he still delivers his songs like sermons, belting them out with his eyes squeezed shut and his head cast back toward the heavens. Though he focused mainly on songs from his latest solo release, Curse Your Branches, he reached as far back as Pedro the Lion’s 2002 album Control, introducing that record’s penultimate track, “Priests and Paramedics” by lamenting the fact that Americans don’t spend enough time contemplating their own mortality (“It’s a very healthy endeavor”). And in classic Bazan style, he found plenty of time for in between song banter, discussing politics, the ethics of music downloading and Radiohead’s In Rainbows with the crowd throughout the evening (he even managed to turn in a surprisingly solid cover of “Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box”). My thoughts on and photos from the show can be found at PopMatters.
DRM is Dead, Long Live DRM
Note to labels, major and indie alike: stop sending DRM and watermark-laden music to journalists plzkthx. Mike Riggs has a great piece in the Washington City Paper this week, which sheds light on the practice of sending “protected” promos to critics. My response to Riggs’ piece—wherein I recount the time that a Death Cab For Cutie promo tried to kill my computer—can be found here. P.S. have you heard this new Atlas Sound/Panda Bear song? It is totally rivaling the Dirty Projectors’ “Stillness is the Move” for the all-important title of Summer Jam ‘09. Here is a DRM and watermark-free MP3 for your listening pleasure.
Despite the fact that I generally find it distasteful to call the album of the year halfway through the year, I really can’t help but agree with Stereogum on this one—Bitte Orca is just that good. A couple of days before the album’s release, I was lucky enough to catch the Dirty Projectors at the Rufustival in Baltimore and was equally impressed with the energy and mind-boggling precision that the band brought to their live show. The next morning, I called Dave Longstreth up on the phone and conducted a brief interview, wherein he discussed the album, the tour and his recent collaborations with David Byrne and Björk. There’s no denying that Longstreth is a thorny interviewee—he’s the sort of evasive fellow that rockcrits love to describe as “difficult”. Regardless, I was quite happy with how the interview turned out; my hope is that it reads more like a conversation and less like an inquisition. Check out the interview and photos over at PopMatters.
On Monday night, I saw Animal Collective play the 9:30 Club. The last time I saw the band, I was quite disappointed. It was the summer of 2004 and while Animal Collective was, ostensibly, touring on Sung Tongs, their set consisted entirely of a series of extended drone experiments. Even worse, the band seemed to take an almost confrontational stance toward their restless audience. It was bad vibes all around (not to mention terribly boring) and I swore I would never go see them again. Of course, I’m not very good about sticking to my guns when it comes to embargoes on bands, so when I heard that Animal Collective planned to actually play songs from their albums on this tour, I decided to give them another chance. This time around, the band fared far better, thanks in no small part to the strength of the material on Merriweather Post Pavilion. Sure, there was still a good bit of repetition, improvisation and psychedelic noodling but thankfully, the more tedious bits were tempered by a fantastic light show, some serious low-end and a handful of eminently danceable renditions. Check out my full review and photos at DCist.
On Tuesday night, I caught the Junior Boys and Max Tundra at the Black Cat. Both acts exceeded my expectations, displaying a knack for performance that too few electronic artists seem to have. Check out my full review/photos over at DCist.
This week brings us Outer South, the latest record from Bright Eyes Conor Oberst Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band. I can say, without hesitation, that this is Oberst’s worst album yet. Well, okay, with the possible exception of A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997, though he gets a free pass on that one, in accordance with the Pablo Honey principle—take note, I totally just coined that—and also because he was like ten at the time. I imagine that if I had written and recorded an album at the age of ten, it mostly would have been about how much I liked the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or something. Alas, I digress. Outer South feels pretty half-baked, like a batch of songs lumped together for the sake of putting out an album—or, perhaps more to the point, for the sake of establishing the Mystic Valley Band as an ensemble, rather than a backing band. While I can’t deny that they really do seem like a band after watching their tour documentary/buddy picture One of my Kind, these boys are going to have to exercise much stricter quality control if they hope to erase the memory of Bright Eyes. Read my full review of the album at PopMatters. (Photo of Mr. Oberst is from my coverage of the Mystic Valley Band’s visit to the 9:30 Club last November)
On Easter Sunday, I caught the Wooden Birds at the Black Cat. If you count yourself among the folks who were saddened by the announcement of the American Analog Set’s indefinite hiatus, you’ll find plenty to love in Andrew Kenny’s latest outfit, which bears a striking resemblance to the AmAnSet. Review/photos at PopMatters.
