Concert Review: Band Of Horses, December 5, Massey Hall

Posted on by Paul in Concerts | 1 Comment

You know, I’ve never fully understood why people go to a venue like Massey Hall only to stand throughout the show. There are seats. These seats are relatively comfortable. The sightlines are good while sitting. So why stand? I guess it’s just people in the rock show mentality. Not too big of a deal, but I imagine someone who went to the effort of securing a front row centre seat would be a bit miffed at an the influx of people who seemed to magically appear in front of the stage just as Band Of Horses began their set. Still, frontman Ben Bridwell seemed pretty happy to see all the people standing up front, eager and ready to be entertained.

On this evening, Band Of Horses seemed to be largely playing to a crowd of dedicated fans, preaching to the choir as it were. That said, I overheard someone on the way in to the show mentioning that she hadn’t given their new album Mirage Rock a listen yet and I have to admit I had only given it a cursory listen before the show. It’s still a solid album, full of a good deal of ’70s country rock influences, and one that I’ll certainly be investing some more time in, but the crowd definitely appreciated the bigger hits a bit more, with the set closing triumvirate of “Is There A Ghost,” “Ode To LRC,” and “The Funeral” getting a big response. For the encore, Bridwell and guitarist Tyler Ramsey returned to the stage for a harmony drenched acoustic rendition of “Evening Kitchen” followed by a similarly stripped down version of “No One’s Gonna Love You” before being joined by the rest of the band to close things off. For me though, the highlight of the set was a surprise cover of Neil Young’s “Powderfinger,” which Bridwell described as “paying tribute to the gods on hallowed ground.” You could tell from the looks on their faces that the band were totally enjoying themselves. Everyone loves a Neil Young cover. Fact.

Also offering up a decent set but to a somewhat sparser crowd was opener Jason Lytle. I’ve long been a fan of Lytle’s work, with Grandaddy’s 2000 release The Sophtware Slump being one of my all time favourite albums, and many of the songs off of his latest, Dept. Of Disappearance, seem to continue on in the same vain as many of the best Grandaddy songs. Playing with one other accompanist who mostly handled the bass, Lytle switched between keyboard and guitar, throwing in the odd synth flourish or sample to add a typical Lytle-esque touch here and there. In comparison to Band Of Horses fuller sound, it was a much more stripped down, low key set, but ultimately pretty satisfying. Now if only we could get a Grandaddy reunion show coming through Toronto …

Song of the Day: The Longwalls – Kowloon

Posted on by Ricky in Song of the Day | Leave a comment

Anytime someone writes about the neighborhood you were born/spent your formulative years, you kind of have to post about it.

Boston rock band The Longwalls wrote an entire EP inspired by Kowloon, the area from Hong Kong where I am from. Their inspiration came from way way back when Kowloon was a walled city. How they managed to do that, I don’t know. Kowloon now days is a lot different, as is Hong Kong.

Here are some random facts about Kowloon

– Chinese translation: 9 Dragons
– Population Density: 43,033 per square kilometer
– Mountains to the north, sea to the south
– Great thai food
– Home of the Ritz Carlton HK, world’s highest hotel and bar. Check out this view:

rtiz carlton

If you look closely, you can even see my hand!

Anyways, so this band, the Longwalls, released an EP called Kowloon a few days ago. It’s a melancholy type of rock music that you would find on a college radio station in the late 90s. It’s got that kind of feel. Check out the title track.

SXSW Preview: SXSW announces new list of bands playing, we analyze.

Posted on by Ricky in South By Southwest | 2 Comments

sxsw

Once again, South By Southwest (SXSW) has announced a new list of bands playing in 2013 and since this sort of stuff makes for really easy and thoughtless posts, we figure we would take a look at the new announcements and comment on it.

Alien Ant Farm – No doubt they are in Austin to celebrate the 12 year anniversary of their greatest success, a cover of Smooth Criminal, originally a song by Michael Jackson. To their credit, they had a great music video. What ever happened to this kid?

Allo Darlin – This cute English/Australlian four piece group first entered our hearts a few years ago with their self titled album. They are back with a new album. I’m excited to see them with new material.

Aloe Blacc – Aloe Blacc was fantastic when I saw him live in August, and I have no doubt he will shine at whatever showcase he will have in Austin. I really hope he writes a song called “I Need A Dollar (no longer)” or something.

Bonobo – This English electronic act is a favorite of Brian, one of our writers who has since disappeared since he created offspring. In his honor, we shall go to this show, which is probably going to end up being pretty good.

JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound have positioned themselves to be the break through act at next year’s SXSW if they haven’t done it by then. Energetic shows and fantastic music are two key components to success and JC Brooks and company has it in droves.

Charli XCX – Charli XCX will be following in the footsteps of Ellie Goulding and Marina and the Diamonds, two other notable UK pop/female acts to test their talents in Austin before launching a full scale invasion of North America.

DJ Yoda – If this guy just remixes Star War soundtracks, I would give his show a highly favorable review.

Everything Everything, The Enemy – Two UK acts you didn’t know still existed until you saw their names on this list. I hope their new material is good.

Fuck Art, Let’s Dance! – German band with arguably the best band name ever.

Hayden – If you are wondering where all the girls went during a certain time slot, it’s probably the time when Hayden is playing.

The Heavy – Phenomenal live act will once again bring their soul-rock interpretation to Austin. They were a highlight last year, don’t miss them this year.

The Joy Formidable – The hard rocking duo will bring their stadium ready rock to Austin once again. Probably one of the last times you get to see crazy eyes perform in a small environment. These guys are primed and ready to take the world over.

Ed Kowalczyk – Ex-Live member will attempt to sing solo material over drunken requests of “lightning crashes”, “I alone” and maybe “Lakini’s Juice” for the diehard Live fan. We’ll see how long he lasts before he breaks. I will attend just to say I’ve heard the term “and her placenta falls to the floor” over loudspeakers.

Lianne La Havas – Mercury Prize nominated singer-songwriter looks like a lock to play her jazz influenced music in that church in Austin that I have never been to.

Little Boots – It’s been three years since Little Boots wowed the world with her catchy dance tracks and her love for the tenori-on. She’s back now and I am quite excited to hear her new material.

Los Claxons – Me and Paul really hope this is the Klaxons singing their tunes Mariachi style. Atlantis to Interzone to Juarez. Or something.

The list goes on and on, check it out here

Concert Review: Ugly Purple Sweater, Kennedy Center, November 30, 2012

Posted on by halley in Concerts | Leave a comment

Ugly Purple Sweater is a ‘homegrown’ DC-band with a narrative style that speaks of far-away, ancient, epic poetry. The quintet blew its audience away at the Kennedy Center on November 30th by performing 50 minutes of pure lyrical masterwork. The band’s inventive and innovative word-play served to do everything from offer DC history lessons to literally tear-inducing stories about relationships and love. Lead singer Sam McCormally played up the hometown advantage, giving a shout-out to his mom and the local haunts all DC’ers know and love. Rachel Lord also contributed beautiful vocals, as well as exhibiting her melodica skills which were quite unexpected (I’m sure they were good as well… but since I’d never seen a melodica played before I have no frame of reference for comparison!). Will McKindley-Ward, Rishi Chakrabarty, and Mike Tasevoli were equally solid as guitar and drums support. Basically, you can tell this group is at-ease and where they should be when on stage. Although the band has traditionally stuck to east coast tours, I hope they expand their presence with the debut of their January 2013 EP. If they end up near you I’d highly recommend stopping by their show.