July 31st, 2009 |
Posted in Music Makers Reviews by john
Genre-bending is a term that gets thrown around a lot these days, and it seems to even more commonly apply to artists’ live shows. It’s hard t avoid it though, as Jeff Lang is truly a genre-bending man. A brief look through his catalog will tell you that this is a man who, simply, has too much going on in his head to strive for simplicity. Now, don’t get me wrong, focus has its place. I’m thinking of Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes, two 2008 artists who picked one style and performed it extremely well. But that’s not for Mr. Lang. His tastes move from country and Western to blues, folk, jazz, and “eco” (a term I use for Enya and the like; in other words, the music that used to be sold with TV ads of rainforests and waterfalls; anyone else remember those?). So he’s complex, but that’s not to say without focus. There’s a pretty clear voice throughout all his genre-bending (last time usage, I promise) and it seems to be decrying that Jeff Lang is a man who would simply cease to be were he is not creating music.
Anyway, some technical stuff. Mr. Lang most often gets classified as blues, bluegrass, or country, mostly because of the style of guitar he likes to play. So expect some beautiful steel-style guitar plucking, long, twangy country riffs emanating from the stage and his being all night long. The word “virtuoso” would not be inaccurate, but as with the best players of Blues and Country music (not to be confused with Honky-Tonk country, which is what they show on CMT, and is, by and large, bad) Mr. Lang is captivating because of the emotion he conveys in his guitar work. Lang’s got a beautiful, expressive voice, and never sounds like he’s trying too hard, but it’s the guitar work that will make you gently weep. They way he slides notes right into pizzicato finger-picking and back into that lovely twang drawl. His guitar sounds like someone from Louisiana or Tennessee to be sure, that long, comforting tone in every phrase, but his voice (luckily) sounds like it could be from anywhere.
It’s getting close to concert time, but if you can download a few tracks to get you comfortable, I’d recommend “Mr. God,” an almost OAR or Dispatch sounding tune with nice accompaniment and wonderful, unforced lyrical simplicity. “Gina,” is the song Ryan Adam’s always wishes he wrote, holding all the best parts of country music without any of the faults (including the pretension that Mr. Adams and alt-country stalwarts always have). “Gina,” also has one of the best acoustic side-by-side electric arrangements I’ve ever heard on a recording. For anyone who’s ever been to a gig in Nashville, you’ll know that this is one of the very best elements of live Country, and it’s very difficult to get right in a recording studio. I wish I could explain better, but download the track and you’ll see what I mean. Then there’s “Prepare Me Well,” where Mr. Lang turns into the Black Keys with an acoustic guitar, which is, yes, exactly as awesome as it sounds.
See you Saturday night at YuYinTang for other one by Split Works, should be a killer show!
tags: Australia - Blues - Country - Jeff Lang - Split Works - YuYinTang
July 29th, 2009 |
Posted in Music Makers Reviews by jaime
“What am I going to do when I lose my head?”
(Superlitio, Tripping Tropicana, 2005)
Coming back home, walking back on your first steps, passing by your usual drugstore, you start feeling a bunch of mixed images, thoughts and experiences that can be only compared with ones extracted from one of the most dramatic Bergman movies. The lights from the drugstore become blurred and welcome you to the diagnosis of your current condition:
Depression. Antidepressants are the solution.“One packet of your best tablets please” you say to the constantly smiling cashier.
Well, if the abuse of antidepressants can cause some unplanned consequences, it’s not wrong if you take some of them to alleviate your pain. Wellness and pain, the illness and the sweet medicine, those are the ingredients you will find in this packet: Anthony and Johnsons, a dose of naked, stirring and dramatic sound in one hand; and in the other hand Hercules and Love Affair (Antony Hegarty’s other band) automatically takes you out of your narcoleptic mood and into the one you were in at the old school dance halls.
What are these pills made of? Hegarty enjoys his own character and shines with his own light, perhaps like Tom Smith from the Editors, a craftsman of emotions in conflict. Hegarty, born in the UK but a California resident since his childhood, has worked with artists like Lou Reed, Bryan Ferry, Bjork, and Cocorosie among others.
Without thinking twice, you take eight, nine, or perhaps twelve of those tablets simultaneously and enter a drowsy state, dozed, dazed, losing consciousness of reality that as it becomes surreal. The Crying Light, released in January, leaves the epilepsy dancing: you find your rhythm as you twist in the snow (as its first single says). It is an album based on the relation of human beings with nature (is it Goldfrapp style?); it is Hegarty’s style and it recalls the gray sadness of his two last album covers. You could fall into a state of higher fragility while remembering previous songs like “The Lake”, based on a Federico Garcia Lorca poem.
The effect of these simultaneous tablets is not fleeting and the dose has been strong enough to get into the sweet and sophisticated notes of this uproarious voice. It’s perhaps the same feeling as seeing dry flowers through a black & white lens. Without any doubt this band is neither green nor yellow, nor red nor blue, but not completely black either. It’s a tenuous relaxed gray to which you can easily become addicted. You just need to feel like a child again, a problematic one, and while you are growing up constantly repeat: “My infant spirit would awake to the terror of the lone lake” (“The Lake”, I Am a Bird Now, 2005)
With your head already on the pillow, you make a list of what you have done and what you have to do. You can see the last sip of water in your glass on the table; anyway there are no more pills left so you ingest your last pill without any fear abuse. In a blink your bed, your room has been transformed into a theater. It is not easy to distinguish anyone, anything, only a voice. Suddenly the stage changes and you are standing at a Friday night party, with the most sticky disco music that you have ever heard before, a shiny, pretty, sticky music. It is Hercules and Love Affair with their self-titled album of 2008. They wake you up from the analgesic effect caused by the same singer performing with a different band. The lyrics are of equal intensity: as deep, mythical, and catchy as those of Antony & the Johnsons, though it’s a less complex visual performance. They are different dresses for the same protagonist, yet nothing is the same. Together with the disco ball’s effect you hear in your mind “To hear you now, to see you now I can look outside myself, and I must examine my breath and look inside, because I feel blind” (Hercules and Love Affair, 2008)
The sonorous effects produced by this new medicine fortunately or unfortunately will not last forever; some hours later you wake up anxious for a new expedition to the used drug store, wondering what you will find in the next packet.
Find more about these bands at:
http://www.myspace.com/herculesandloveaffair
http://www.myspace.com/antonyandthejohnsons
tags: Antony and the Johnsons - Hercules and Love Affair - Indie - Rock
March 26th, 2009 |
Posted in Music Makers Reviews by mache
Dubstep is heavy music, it is deep in bass sounds, with reggae winds smoothing the heaviness of the beats. It sounds like the story of a rasta, who after hours of tripping finds a dark textured cavern, goes in and meets monks playing huge drums that resound solemnly around the interstices formed by the heavy rocks. As the sounds bounce around that cavern late at night, and the monks densely play the thick drum leathers, the vibrations in the cavern mix with the wind from the ocean wooooooo-o-o-o-o-o-hh and hhh-h-h-h-uuuuuhh, and then the rasta begins to phrase some reggae lyrics possessed by nymphs.
Musical neighbors Resident Advisor wrote a great article (Dubstep 101), in which they go over the annals of dubstep history, how the sound evolved and how it crystallized as a genre in 2007. Pinch was there right on time, producing and creating. When people repeatedly insist there’s nothing new in music, well, here you go. Have a dose of dubstep.
Pinch has been exploring sound since before dubstep was named. In 2007 he released his first LP Underwater Dancehall, a double album that became a breakthrough for dubstep in that year; bringing vocals to the genre and increasing the interest of the audience by the attractiveness of his sound. Pinch’s music searches for and then expands horizons; it has a neat sound, and an attractive style. His approach is clean and minimal, to speak in ‘Electronic’. His skills as a DJ have been lauded by audiences from around the world.
Personally, I really enjoy showcasing the art of electronic musicians and DJs. It feels right to draw attention to the art created by these guys, still a point of doubt for many people. It’s impressive that there are still people offended by the idea of calling DJs musicians. To me, they are on the same spot where jazz, rock, punk, and pop once stood. Should we call it the inquisition square maybe? We, people, have an amazing capacity to oppose innovation and change. Well, for all of those who want to develop flexibility and open their minds (and maybe stay youthful): come and listen to some dubstep from one of the pioneers and original designers of this sound. Pinch joins forces with Sub-Culture crew at The Shelter this Saturday, fortunately a place far away from the inquisition square.
tags: Dubstep - Pinch - Shanghai - Sub-Culture - Tectonic Records - The Shelter - UK
March 18th, 2009 |
Posted in Music Makers Reviews by mache
Fucked Up “No Epiphany”
Fucked Up’s punk has risen up from the underground due to the intensity of their dedication to their music (acclaimed as progressive and creative hardcore punk) and the fussy craziness they exhibit on and off the stage. These additional performances, beyond the actual music, are the cause of many discussions and arguments about the value of the music versus the noise caused by the actions of the musicians. Punk is noisy: the music is noisy and the punks themselves are noisy. Punk is fussy: spoiled if you don’t like it, or rebellious and invigorating if you do. Nonetheless, punk is performance art and, like it or not, many identify with its sound and attitude. So, let’s get over it and say, yes, Fucked Up has become well-known because of destroying MTV’s stage and having to pay damages over five thousand dollars, for confessing to disturbing relationships among band members (including violent fights), and even some stories of a member in a mental institution because of the stressed relationships within the band. But above all that, there is the music, without which they would have never got to where they are now: all over the news and in the ears of those who are listening carefully to the evolution of music.
The discography of the band is confused. They have produced a huge number of albums (over forty) for a career of only nine years. They have moved away from tradition even in this matter. They haven’t followed the common path of recording LPs and EPs in an organized way but have extended their chaos even to this part of their work. They have put out a long series of 7″ records (38 of them) as well as many 12″ ones, including a saga for the Chinese Zodiac they began in 2006 with Year of the Dog. Last year they put out the Year of the Pig, the title track of which runs 18 minutes 34 seconds. There’s a Pink Floyd connection in the sounds if you listen attentively which may or may not be intentional. Fucked Up’s four LPs are: Epics in Minutes, Hidden World, The Year of the Pig plus B-Sides and The Chemistry of Common Life.
Fucked Up explores many areas of music with a vision of punk as an epic sound. The band’s line up of three guitars has evolved punk from the classic four members formation, and has invited instruments that were never ‘punk’ to discover their hardcore soul. The first track of The Chemistry of Common Life, “Son the Father” opens with a flute solo that has brought much comment: flute was never punk until it got Fucked Up. The three guitars are so strongly layered you might think there’s no space for anyone else in there, but if you try to listen to a small piece of any one of them, you are violently dragged to the very center of them all and dared to leave. Pink Eyes’ voice has been compared to the yell of a Balrog , but this is not just any Balrog’s call: this is a dark, existentialist Balrog, cracking your skull with epic obscure lyrics about rebellion, survival, mythology, and the heaviness of humanity. These guys could go on holiday with Nietzche and Wagner.
Their 2006 LP Hidden World was almost immediately hailed as a classic punk album. The instrumentals, long tracks, and firing drums; the psychotic string games, the use of violins, the calls to rebellion, the strong and disturbing but melodic noise: all this got Fucked Up acclaimed as a band that was coming to interfere with punk music.
Fucked Up is not only about destroying stages and bathrooms, they are not just spoiled punks yelling for attention, they are not just fucked up dudes with damaged minds. These guys are playing with all the options that music gives punks to be creative. If their music was not as good as it is, and as it is becoming, then all the shit people say about them wouldn’t be about their music, and it wouldn’t be any more interesting than news about Britney F. Spears.
To all of those punk lovers in Shanghai: you better get ready to see what happens when S.T.D. brings Fucked Up to fuck up the most fucked up stage they’ll ever be on. And to those who don’t give a fuck about punk, what the fuck are you doing reading this? (This was fucking funny to write.)
Fucked Up brought by S.T.D. will play at LOgO supported by Crazy Mushroom, with an after party provided by STDJs. Saturday March 21st at 10pm. 40 rmb.
They began to spread their sound in 2001. The punks forming the band are Pink Eyes (Damian Abraham) on vocals, Mustard Gas (Sandy Miranda) on bass, 10,000 Marbles (Mike Haliechuk) on Lead Guitar, Concentration Camp (Josh Zucker) on rhythm guitar, Young Governor (Ben Cook) on third guitar and Guinea Beat (Jonah Falco) on drums.
tags: Canada - Fucked Up - LOgO - Punk - S.T.D. - Shanghai
