10 bones can get you a pretty big boner in this city.

Case in point, ultimate babe Yuki Chikudate made her way through the El Mocambo last night for an all-out noise-fest with shoegaze darlings Asobi Seksu (you know, the band that was backing her–the three white guys). Asobi Seksu is one of New York’s most prominent indie rock acts right now it’s easy to see why…Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser and  MBV’s Kevin Shields could pass for their long lost music parents and Chikudate could pass for a Japanese spokesmodel.

But c’mon now, it’s not always about how pretty the lead singer is, is it? It was maybe Yuki that left us all slack-jawed, silent, and motionless throughout the show. At least that would explain why the applause had the viscosity of cold molasses–didn’t notice if it slowed down after she stripped down to her tanktop though. Anyone? Anyone?

More noisy than ethereal, I would say the ElMo (or any small venue for that matter) is sort of the last place you want this type of shoegaze to be played at because no matter how ambient your guitars sound you can envision even Grandpa Simpson’s eardrums exploding. More than a few people ran for the hills once the set started and even seasoned show-going veterans could kind of feel their ears’ cilia hairs dying. This is not to say that it wasn’t beautiful music–the gentler, dreamier stuff off 2006’s Citrus sounded lovely, particularly Thursday…it was just that much of the noisier stuff off Hush, which I have yet to listen through, seemed much too loud for a club show.

One last thing…I might be alone on this one but it felt like the pace at which they tore through their set was unprecedented. I think what they were going for was a seamless sound without audible transitions from song to song–a noble shoegazey intention that ended up sounding like it was just another day at the office, at least to me.

 
icon for podpress  Asobi Seksu - I Can't See: Play Now
Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Live
  • Mixx
  • MySpace
  • Technorati
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • Yahoo! Buzz

Related posts:

  1. Concert Review: Bloc Party with Longwave, March 22, 2009 9:30 Club DC Washington DC- This concert review is a tale of...
  2. Concert Review: Girls, El Mocambo, November 10 Toronto – Since September 25, the San Francisco band...
  3. NXNE Concert Review: Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head, El Mocambo, June 18th Toronto – One of the more hyped bands to play...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Horaayy..there are 14 comment(s) for me so far ;)

#1

definitely a hottie.

Ricky wrote on March 4, 2009 - 12:22 pm
#2

I know it’s like comparing apples and oranges but I still can’t get over how good that Deerhunter show was back in November at Lee’s. I think I will be forever comparing everything to that, and I fully admit it..

Allison wrote on March 4, 2009 - 12:43 pm
#3

Not huge into the Azns myself. Impressive voice, though.

sully wrote on March 4, 2009 - 2:50 pm
#4

Trust us, she was hot shiz. The prettiest front woman working today.

Allison wrote on March 4, 2009 - 3:14 pm
#5

Did you catch the opening bands? I’m trying to figure out who the band Bell is that is touring with Asobi Seksu right now.

thanks!

Bryan wrote on March 5, 2009 - 2:16 pm
#6

No we didn’t, one of our peoples was hungry so we went to Red Room for some Pad Thai

Ricky wrote on March 6, 2009 - 10:11 am
#7

Hey Bryan,

It looks like Bell is a New York based band…http://stereogum.com/archives/band-to-watch/band-to-watch-bell_008557.html

Looks like you can sample them here: http://www.myspace.com/whoisbell

They sound interesting to say the least. I like how everyone in the Brooklyn band scene seems to know each other.

Allison wrote on March 6, 2009 - 3:15 pm
#8

The Humphreys would approve.

Ricky wrote on March 6, 2009 - 4:51 pm
#9

That dress is hideous. It looks like a ruffled bubblegum lampshade, only worse, much worse. This dress manages to dwarf her breasts and widen her small frame into mumu-proportions on the bottom.

Allison wrote on March 6, 2009 - 5:08 pm
#10

I like the dress and the Pad Thai was definately better than what the Bells sound like on their Myspace page.

Josh wrote on March 7, 2009 - 3:28 pm
#11

Josh, your taste in music puts your taste in women’s fashion to shame.

Allison wrote on March 7, 2009 - 7:18 pm
#12

that girl is 14!! josh, you ped!

Ricky wrote on March 12, 2009 - 9:08 am
#13

To Josh’s credit she looks at least 16.

“The Criminal Code does not now criminalize consensual sexual activity with or between persons 14 or over, unless it takes place in a relationship of trust or dependency, in which case sexual activity with persons over 14 but under 18 can constitute an offence, notwithstanding their consent. Even consensual activity with those under 14 but over 12 may not be an offence if the accused is under 16 and less than two years older than the complainant. The exception, of course, is anal intercourse, to which unmarried persons under 18 cannot legally consent, although both the Ontario Court of Appeal(3) and the Quebec Court of Appeal(4) have struck down the relevant section of the Criminal Code.”

Allison wrote on March 12, 2009 - 9:20 am
#14

Hi,

I just went to Asobi Seksu’s concert at UCSD. It was great, but do you guys know the name of the opening band? The three white guys? Thanks

Jaimie wrote on January 16, 2010 - 5:28 pm
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Write Your Comment

Comment Guidelines: Basic XHTML is allowed (a href, strong, em, code). All line breaks and paragraphs will be generated automatically.

You should have a name, right? 
Your email address, I promised I won't tell it to anyone. 
If you have a web site or blog, you can type the URL right here. 
This is where you type your comments. 
Remember my information for the next time I visit.