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Tonight I got free tickets to see the Los Angeles Kings play the St. Louis Blues at the Staples Center. Though a poor hockey fan, I’ve played hockey most of my life and couldn’t turn down the opportunity. Though I have not been to many professional sporting events, I never fail to take notice of the inspiring, crowd rousing music they play at the games. Arriving at the game tonight I expected to hear the typical Queen and Steve Miller Band peppered with some more recent tunes by Greenday and Hootie and the Blowfish, maybe Nirvana if I was lucky. They fortunately serve beer to dull the senses into submission as these songs pound worn beats over the roar of the crowd. However tonight the first song I heard ( I arrived 2 minutes into the 2nd period) was not the much anticipated clap-thudding of ‘We Will Rock You’, but the stinging guitars and tightly strung throaty rasp of Jack White. Yes the White Stripes were ripping through the stadium with “My Doorbell”.
Seeing a show at NYU was kinda weird. The auditorium at the Kimmel Center was acually pretty big. I would compare it to the Bowery Ballroom in size, but with much less character. I think this was the first rock show I’ve been to where no beer is served. Given the merit of the bill, the night was surprisingly undersold, I’d say 60% attendance. I suppose everyone that really wanted to see Wolf Parade already saw them on Monday or Tuesday.
Dirty On Purpose are definitely alive and well. A little dusty, maybe, but no worse for the wear. They recently posted a new demo track, “Light Polution” on their website and myspace page. They also have a whole bundle of new tracks recorded at a live set they did in Boston at the beginning of the month available here. I like the new songs, although the falsetto voice can be a bit much on the live tracks. It sounds alot better and more controlled in the demo, so my guess is they are still just getting comfortable with the new lineup.
I saw Wolf Parade play back in June at Pianos. At that time, the hype machine was just getting geared up, and their justifiably praised Apologies to the Queen Mary had yet to be released. They were missing Hadji on the sampler/therimin/keys and were admittedly drunk, but still showed immense promise. Last night, they were yet again admittedly drunk, but had their full band plus and unnamed ’5th member’ who played an odd stand up percussion kit which included a drum, tambourine and a couple of wind chimes.
Rogue Wave‘s new album, Descended Like Vultures, comes out today. I think its really great, and I can’t wait to get off work to pick it up. I saw Rogue Wave once while they were touring to support their first album, Out Of The Shadow, and I wasn’t really all that impressed. They had a Shins sort of feel but I didn’t think the songwriting wasn’t really up to par. In hindsight I think that they just hadn’t gelled yet as a band, and this new album delivers on the promise that I didn’t recognize. You can also listen to 2 non-album tracks, “Eyes” and “Everyday” on their under-the-radar myspace page.
I was pretty surprised to hear Sun Kil Moon featured in Steve Martin’s Shopgirl, let alone to see Mark Kozelek acting in the movie. He basically plays himself, Luther, a singer/guitarist in a band called “Hot Tears,” who mentors Jason Schwartzman’s character, Jeremy. Low bassist Zak Sally also plays in the fictional band. Sun Kil Moon has a new album of Modest Mouse covers coming out, that, while an interesting idea, I don’t really think does the songs justice. Kozelek’s versions are short sweet excercises in song writing that utilize Isaac Brock’s lyrics, but that, for me, don’t really compare to the complex quality of the originals. Samples from the album can be found online at various spots. “Ocean Breathes Salty” or “Dramamine” would be the tracks I’d recommend.
This past week has been hot like Mcdonald’s coffee, pre-lawsuit. Last night at The Echo, Mt. Egypt and Band of Horses opened for Austin, TX’s Okkervil River. Okkervil River’s stuff has some leanings toward VHS or Beta, but with their lead singer Will Sheff on ‘performance enhancing drugs’ to overcome a strep throat, he was sounding more like Conor Oberst. I really went to see Band of Horses, but Mt. Egypt was an added bonus.
The first time heard The Hold Steady, they were opening for labelmates Les Savy Fav in Brooklyn shortly before their first album, Almost Killed Me was released. I was totally blown away by their energy, humor and theatrics. The first time I saw The Constantines play at a tiny venue on the Lower East Side, I noticed Craig Finn of The Hold Steady standing next to me in the crowd.
When I heard the Iron & Wine + Calexico collaboration EP, In The Reins, I was shocked by how cohesive of a group they made together. Iron & Wine’s, Sam Beam and Calexico’s Joey Burns share equally unsure, light voices that seem to match perfectly, like they were meant to be paired together.
I think radio is up for a comeback. Unlike the recording industry, which hasn’t found ways to use new technologies other than that which Apple has gifted them, the radio world is branching off into more powerful satellite radio and is taking advantage of streaming over the internet to overcome geographical boundaries.
When I first heard about podcasting, most podcasts available were homemade experiments that often suffered from way too much boring chit-chat by unfunny hosts.