Happy Chinese New Year

It's the year of the Golden Pig- Happy 4704!

Lily Allen at 9:30 Club

Friday night, I went to see Lily Allen in a sold out show at the 9:30 Club. I had a great time.
The opener was Baltimore DJ Aaron Lacrate - I think mp3s should not be used for djing because the sound quality of his set was crap- the 9:30 has fantastic sound, and it sounded like a blown speaker was playing during his set.
Lily Allen was really impressive. I love her voice and the fact that her music has rocksteady and ska beats. She pretty much did all the songs from her debut record, Alright, Still, and to fill the rest of the set she did some pretty great covers of Keane's "Everybody's Changing", The Kooks' "Naive", and The Specials' "Blank Expression".

Vetiver and Vashti Bunyan at Rock & Roll Hotel

Last night, I went to a venue that opened last year in DC, the Rock & Roll Hotel, to see, again, Vetiver and Vashti Bunyan. The space was pretty nice, and the sound was good at low volume, but when they cranked the system, it was just ok.
I caught the last part of the opener Vandaveer from DC. They were alright- his songs were nice.
Vashti Bunyan then played. She was so soft spoken on stage, but her songs were nice. Accompanying her were some of the musicians from last week's Carnegie Hall show as well as the cellist from the Espers.



Vetiver followed, and they were pretty great. They started by playing a fantastic song by Bobby Charles. Andy Cabic said that the album it's on is not in print, but that the record was produced by Rick Danko and had members of the The Band on it.
Vetiver played a more mellow set at the Carnegie Hall show, but last night, they rocked out more, which was pretty great.

My Fav Superbowl Spot

GPS POWER!

Ennio Morricone at Radio City Music Hall

Last night, I was lucky enough to go to the North American debut of famous soundtrack composer and pending honorary Acadamy Award recipient Ennio Morricone. Performing with him was the Roma Simfonietta and a chorus of about 100 singers. They played a lot of his "greatest hits" including music from The Mission, The Untouchables, and The Sicilian Clan. However, by far, the highlight of the evening was his medley of music from the westerns of Sergio Leone.

Welcome to Dreamland at Carnegie Hall

Friday night, I went to my first concert at New York City's Carnegie Hall to see a show curated by David Byrne called Welcome to Dreamland. The concert was his introduction to the Weird America - Freak Folk scene that has been around in the last few years.
I sat in front of Jonathan Demme, too.





First up was CocoRosie. I didn't get any pics of them, but I have blogged about them before. Sierra Cassady sounded amazing with the Carnegie Hall acoustics. They brought along Spleen to back them up, and the crowd really responded to their set. They played a few new songs that sounded good.

Cibelle, the Brazillian singer, then sang one song on her own before the next act, Adem played his set.

Adem was really good. He definitely fell more into the tradition of British Folk. I liked that he did his song "Spirals"- it's one of my favorites. He had Vashti Bunyan sing his song "Pillow", and it was really beautiful.

Up next was psychedelic country rock band Vetiver. They played a nice downtempo set, and I can't state enough how the acoustics of Carnegie Hall really made these artists sound amazing.


Vashti Bunyan followed, and she was really good. Highlights were when she played "Diamond Day" and "Lately".


Last up was Devendra Banhart. This was my first time seeing him and he was pretty amazing. He played songs ranging in style from folk to a Portugese song to an all out psychedelic rock jam. His guitarist was pretty amazing as well.

The show ended with David Byrne and all of the artists in the show coming out and singing a Moondog song, "Be a Hobo". All in all, it was a really amazing event to have seen.

Orange Snow

Shoot- so sorry to people who stumble upon this blog for the scarcity of posts in January.
I promise to be better about blogging this month.
Did anyone read about the orange snow in Russia. The report is that the snow in the Omsk region of the country came down orange and yellow!?!
The snow also supposedly formed oily pools, and smelled terrible.
No word on the cause, but I got a sneaking suspicion some butthead trying to make a buck is behind this.

Camera Obscura with The Essex Green at 9:30 Club

Monday evening, I went to the 9:30 Club to see Camera Obscura play.
Opening up was a Brooklyn band called The Essex Green. I only thought they were okay- well intentioned but just not great.
They had a pop-rock sound like The New Pornographers, but without a woman with a voice as strong as Neko Case and without a lyricist like Dan Bejar.
Needless to say, I was not surprised by their Gram Parsons cover.
Camera Obscura played at the Black Cat last year, but it was nice to hear them at 9:30 because of the better sound system. It was also an impressively crowded club for a Monday night show. Despite a few technical difficulties with the acoustic guitar, the band was great.
They mentioned how they like local band Georgie James, and lo and behold, John and Laura from that band could be seen watching Camera Obscura from the balcony.
I just also want to add, the young lady in front of me looked just like the sister from Dexter on Showtime,

The Beach House and High Water at Floristree Space

Last night after the movies, I returned to the Floristree Space for a show. It was the CD release for local band Arbouretum on Thrill Jockey.
Opening was a band called Highwater. They were pretty interesting- a quartet featuring drums, bass, keyboard and cello. They had a nice slow rock sound and the lead singer reminded me of Neil Young and John Fogerty.
Up next was local "Pitchfork effect" band, The Beach House. They have been getting a lot of blogger buzz since their debut release last year. I'm glad that in Baltimore, they still play DIY places like Floristree. They introduced a few new songs that sounded great.
Alas, I was tired after they were done, so I missed the headliners. Sorry.

A Connection to Letters From Iwo Jima

So, I went to see Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima last night. I loved it. It's a pretty damn great war film telling a story about a side of WWII I hadn't seen before.
One of the leads, Tsuyoshi Ihara, who plays Baron Nishi, is friends with my cousin in Japan! I had dinner with him about 2 years ago. He was impressed that I knew him, but alas it was because I was a nerd. I placed him in one of the Gamera films.

Emily Haines & Soft Skeleton with Tall Firs at 9:30 Club

The 9:30 Club was really cold last night for the Emily Haines show. It was also my first seated show there. To top that off, DC now has a smoking ban in all bars and clubs!
Opening up was a band called Tall Firs. I was a little disappointed in their low-key electro-acoustic style at first, but after their third song I began to enjoy their set. I liked it when they played off each other's guitar sounds, and I actually was enjoying a dissonant section when they stopped and admitted they had goofed up on a song.

Emily Haines was really good. Upon first listen to her record, it was really quiet and a little boring, but the songs live were much better. I didn't think she needed to have a projector and a Powerbook for visuals because it was nice just to watch her play music.
I enjoyed her crowd banter, and was really impressed by her humble nature. She's considered one of the "indie hotties", but she was very sweet. She ended with a really nice cover of Neil Young's "Expecting to Fly".

Back from Blog-cation

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last couple weeks.
What with the holidays and all, I decided to take a break from posts.
It has been eventful though:
- Xmas with the family
- Went to Brooklyn to hang with some friends
- Enfant Terrible and his girlfriend got engaged
- My friends in Michigan had a baby!
- Licking pants and Studio Acorn opened a new storefront
- Spent New Year's in Carroll County near the corporate headquarters of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers
- went to get new glasses and found out I need reading glasses - I'm Old!