Sunday, April 02, 2006

Honey I'm Home!

Yes, it's true! After a unacceptably long absence, I'm back, and ArtBeats Reviews lives on. I also have a new camera so i can once again capture the rapture of live music for your viewing pleasure. I've seen a few shows over the last four months. Among them Stereolab, Animal Collective and Metric again as you can see. I can't promise that I'll be posting reviews of all of these, but I will certainly review The Greenhornes show that is coming up, and I will be updating this space more frequently for what it's worth. Even if I don't go to any shows (hah!)

In the meantime, peace and love from Artbeats!

Posted by Vancouver Music Junkie :: 9:25 PM :: 0 Comments:

Post a Comment

---------------------------------------

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Static-X

I wasn't going to go to this show but a friend had a free ticket and called me the day of to see if I wanted to go. And I'm not one to turn down free tickets. Matt spent the whole ride there making fun of the band and telling me how crappy they were. His friends however had convinced him they would be worth seeing and he was also interested in seeing Ill Nino. So I didn't have high hopes for Static-X. I'm glad to say that I was happily surprised when they ended up rocking so much that I had to abandon Matt and his metalhead friends to go mosh in the front. Wicked.

I, sadly, appear to have lost my digital camera. I don't know how this could have happened. I'm still hoping that it will just show up somewhere. However, I don't have pictures of Static-X as of yet. I did take a disposable camera with me, but I haven't discovered what crap is on it as of just yet. Hopefully I managed to capture the hair because oh man, the band is seriously worth it just for the hair alone. You need to check it out, so watch the video here: static-x website. Warning: music starts playing when you go to this link. And it could wake up your grandma.

Posted by Vancouver Music Junkie :: 9:50 PM :: 0 Comments:

Post a Comment

---------------------------------------

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Metric and other jems

My friend Mel brought over a disc with 'Jem' songs on it. You know, the cartoon from the eighties. As a 6 or 7 year old I was in love with Jem. She was the coolest chick I'd ever seen. Who would've thought I'd grow up to love musicians so much?

Anyway, I think I'm in love with Emily from Metric . She is easily the hottest chick I've ever seen (since I moved on from Jem). From our spot next to the stage we had the pleasure of seeing her kick off her shoes and dance around barefoot in her gorgeous short black dress. There was a barricade separating the stage from the masses and she apologized for it and said she would really love for the fans to be up close to the stage. That was sweet. I love bands who treat their fans nice. If the barricade wasn't there though, people would be grabbing at her ankles.

I'll try to stop gushing about how great Emily is and focus instead on the great music that Metric as a band produces. The lively, upbeat, guitar riffs and drums are supported by Emily's clear but sexy voice singing totally fab lyrics. The ranges of her voice and the her transformation from child-like innocent poppy sounds to husky, deep, sexy sounds so naturally is amazing. If I had to compare Metric's sound to other bands, I would say something of Morcheeba, a touch of the Breeders (Kim Deal, my other great love), a smidgen of Suzanne Vega, and just a sprinkling of the that girl punk rock band feel, like Kittie or Scratching Post (featured in the movie '10 things I hate about you').

Other recent gems and discoveries:

I've been listening to a lot of great recorded music lately, such as the new Thievery Corporation, Cosmic Game. Great CD. I personally think that every Thievery Corp has ever done is amazing, but the new album does nothing to disappoint fans. There are some awesome mixes on this CD which features artists as diverse as The Flaming Lips, Perry Farrell, Gunjan and David Byrne. A wonderful mixture of downtempo, chill beats and world music in an ultimately trippy and highly danceable medley.

Mel also directed me to check out the awesome videos on Bjork's site .

I've also been checking out the following: The new Boards of Canada, Sigur Ros , Kasabian , and M.I.A. All recommended.

Stay posted for a review of Paris Combo who I had the pleasure of seeing at Richards on Tuesday night:)

Peace,

Kat

Posted by Vancouver Music Junkie :: 6:05 PM :: 0 Comments:

Post a Comment

---------------------------------------

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

The Lovely Feathers

I'm excited people! New music, and it's great! I'd like to introduce to you, The Lovely Feathers:



The Lovely Feathers opened for Metric, and it was one of those rare moments when I was there, ecstatic in the audience, thinking I could have just come for these guys and anything after this is just icing on the cake. (Then Metric came on and totally blew my mind and I couldn't believe what a great night it was.) I encourage all of you to check out The Lovely Feathers. You And if you get the chance to see them live DO IT!!

We arrived early, as did most of the crowd who proceeded to line up down the street and around the corner waiting in the cold and rain for the doors to open. We didn't wait but came back when the doors were open and had time for drinks and checking out the merchandise stand before the guys got on stage. My companion Mel bought a Lovely Feathers pin before we even saw them just because the art work was so cool (it's by Logan MacDonald according to the EP cover). I bought mine afterwards along with the EP which kicks ass. Best five bucks I've spent in ages.

We were lucky enough to find this great spot near the stage where we had a perfect view AND room to dance. Who could ask for more? Well, it would have been nice to have no barricade and giant security guard right in front of us, but hey, I'm not compaining. Buddy seemed nice enough and even looked like he might be enjoying himself a little. From our excellent vantage point we had a tremendous view of the boys from the band, and what an entertaining bunch they were too! It's hard to describe the kind of energy and synergy on that stage. I wonder if it's their amazing synergy that lets them make such amazing music or if it's their excitement about the great music they are creating that gives them that great chemistry together. But chicken and egg musings aside, these guys blew my mind. I have to send special love out to the guy with the cowbell. The intimacy of the act was mesmerizingly erotic in an innocent kind of way. Much like the music itself.

Many of the indy/punk/alternative bands that have emerged from Montreal have similarities in their sound, and I have to say that I'm partial to those sounds to start off with, but some of these bands seem to do these sounds particularly well and Lovely Feathers is one such band. What I love about it is that combination of passion, heart, stress and excitement. On one hand it's so carefree and wild and on the other hand it's pulling your heart strings back and using them to swing you around and shake you up. There's something sweet and romantic about it, something happy, Beatles-like, and then something sad, something filled with longing, distress. It's the combination of angst and joy and love that is so intriguing. It's like a great big mass of pulsating LIFE.

As I mentioned earlier the EP is rad. All seven listed tracks and the hidden track are awesome. My immediate favorite was 'Wrong Choice' for the rhythm of it, but after a few listens it's really hard to choose a favorite any more. All of the songs are really catchy and it's impossible not to get into them. The debut full-length album is scheduled to come out in 2006. Keep your eyes towards www.thelovelyfeathers.com for the update on that.

Anyway, that's all I'm gonna say. These guys are in the league with The Arcade Fire, Metric, Neutral Milk Hotel, Bloc Party and on. They just rule.

Metric review coming soon. Peace.

Posted by Vancouver Music Junkie :: 6:13 PM :: 0 Comments:

Post a Comment

---------------------------------------

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

The Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade and Bell Orchestre

The Arcade Fire has certainly been burning bright of late, gaining a loyal following of fans from the unlikeliest of places, and in general taking the music scene by siege. And it's no wonder at all that this eight-piece collaboration of highly skilled musicians is on fire. Fuelled by the youthful energy and spirit of it's members, and fanned into a fury of life-celebrating fervor by the close proximity of death (several of the band members lost family in a short period of time before the album Funeral came out), the Arcade Fire belts out melodies that would have even a skeleton jumping and hopping to the beats.

One of my favorite things about this show was definitely the percussion. It extended far beyond your traditional drums and cymbals so that some of the things being banged with a vengeance included helmets, stands, parts of the stage decor and the stage itself. It's hard to describe the energy and enthusiasm that came out of this. Allthese people jumping around the stage banging on things wildly. It was fantastic. And it gave you a feel of how music like this might be made, musicians just jamming, banging on this banging on that, seeing how it sounds, and totally loving it the whole time. It gave you a sense of freedom of expression and the beautiful things that can come out of open jam sessions. While the percussion was fantastic, it was only added to by the incredible vocals and the wild array of other instruments that were also played with skill and innovation.

On whole I'd have to say that this was one of the most well put on shows I've seen. It's one thing to listen to great music from a recording and it's a whole other experience to witness it being made live, and this is something that some bands recognize more so than others. In the case of The Arcade Fire, they knew they were there to put on a great show for people and that's precisely what they did. Everything from the unique stage design (vintage lounge style with a couch and many lampshades), the backdrop, the vast number of instruments that were played, the energy, the dancing, the camaraderie... all of it, was so perfectly put together that the surge of happiness and emotion was tangible in the giant crowd. Bodies bobbed in unison, crowd-surfers floated over the heads, and a good time was had by all.

The two opening bands, Bell Orchestre and Wolf Parade are intricately connected with Arcade Fire and members of the three bands have worked together extensively. I was impressed by the music of Bell Orchestre but for whatever reason the performance put on by Wolf Parade was shaky and disjointed and seemed to drag on. This could have been due to the fact that they were late, didn't have enough time to set up or whatever else, so I'll refrain from judging the band based on that performance. The Arcade Fire certainly seems to hold them in high esteem, bringing members of Wolf Parade on for their encore, so I'll have to trust their judgment on that one.

In a sweet finale, the entire troupe of The Arcade Fire paraded through the audience which parted like a sea, finally coming to rest before the exit of the hall and playing a song from that vantage point with the masses swarmed around them. It was a bit like a pied piper of Hamlin move because it caused the crowds to gravitate towards the doors. That act of joining the audience, along with pulling one of the crowd-surfers onto the stage to shake the maracas throughout a song, were such nice, friendly, one-with-the-people gestures that I'm sure everyone left feeling incredibly warm and fuzzy. The faces of the crowd that poured out of the place looked euphoric and alive, all of us having caught a spark of that brightness and love of life that is so much a part of The Arcade Fire. It was a beautiful thing.

(Photo from marmight.com)

Posted by Vancouver Music Junkie :: 11:48 AM :: 0 Comments:

Post a Comment

---------------------------------------

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Jamie Lidell, Fourtet, and T. Raumschmiere

I've been putting off reviewing this show based on the excuse that I haven't been able to upload the pics and video yet due to a USB cable issue. Good excuse, but since I'm seeing another show on Friday I think I should review this one now.

The triple-bill early show at Richards was joy-filled night of ecclectic fun. Just ask the troupe of dancers that congregated towards one side of the stage, jumping and stepping and writhing and falling in pure ecstasy. You know it's a good show when people are that into it.

Opening up the floor was Jamie Lidell , a musical genius hailing from jolly old England who I had never heard of before and who performed as a guest of Fourtet. Lidell, an unassuming young man in a white shirt, black pants, and thick-rimmed glasses was not to be underestimated. Recording and looping samples of his own vocals and then layering these looped sounds on top of solid electronic beats, he soon had the place booming with so many voices you would have thought there was am army choir in the house. His expert mastery over the electronic tools which seemed to perform to his every whimsy was only topped by his stellar voice and wonderful stage presence when he launched into a rendition of his tune 'Multiply' (download it now!). The entire CD 'Multiply' which I listened to later on has this great funk/soul vibe to it, whereas some of his other stuff is very much in the pure electronic realm. I definitely appreciate the diversity of his styles and have to say that I liked it all, although I might just be a bit partial to the funky stuff.

Up next was the feature that we went for. Fourtet, actually a one man show, has a loyal following of fans. Like Jamie, he was obviously losing himself into the music, which fluctuated between dancey techno trance into a realm of sounds and noises which were almost painful, and certainly pushed the boundaries of traditional music. Particularly enjoyable was the track 'A joy' from the new album 'Everything Ecstatic'. With bass positively reverberating through the room, objects on the speakers wobbling dramatically and threatening to walk right off, a captivated audience swayed and bobbed and rolled eyes toward the ceiling in an almost religious musical fervour. Now that's what I'm talking about.

The final act of the night was quite a breakaway from the one man dj sets. T. Raumschmiere , a funky, energetic trio from Germany was ready to get the crowd really moving. After a somewhat lengthy soundcheck, the boys from Berlin launched into super high octane tunes in the vein of what can only be described as punk rock. But labeling music into various genres can be limiting, and the brains behind T. Raumschmiere has also in his curriculum vitae solo live shows sporting techno/dance sounds. One thing is for sure, he has energy, and he wants to see the crowd show some as well. A few tracks in, he'd peeled off his shirts and was hunched over his keyboard, jumping up and down to the rhythm. The image that sticks with me is the green stage lights reflected off his glistening back causing his curved spine to look almost reptilian. My favorite thing about the band was definitely their great energy, synergy and good-humored punk attitude. I get the feeling that Germans know how to party. I think I should give the place a visit!

Posted by Vancouver Music Junkie :: 9:55 PM :: 0 Comments:

Post a Comment

---------------------------------------

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Summer Concert Reviews

I figured a good place to start would be a review of shows I went to this summer. I went to quite a few, some small, some large, and they were all special and wonderful in their own way. So without further ado...

Alfa Ming et al at the Media Club

When it comes to local hip-hop, no one does it better than Alfa Ming and his partners in crime. After waiting through the weak performances of a few other local hopefuls we finally got around to the dish that is Alfa Ming. His crowd-commanding presence and lively style pretty soon got everyone in the place jumpin. Splashing water from a bottle everywhere and joking with audience members in the front, he made the show truly entertaining.

Threat from Outer Space

Following Alfa's performance was a great bunch of local musicians collectively called the Threat from Outer Space . Although Threat has been performing locally in Vancouver since 1997, this was actually the first time I had seen them live. I was astounded by the innovative blending of very diverse styles and instruments into a wonderfully cohesive, highly energetic musical medley. It's not often that you get to hear socially conscious and highly sophisticated rhyming accompanied by wailing electric bass guitar! This is how they are described on their own site:

"Threat From Outer Space has mashed together styles as diverse as Hip Hop, Funk, Jazz Underground Rock, Drum n'Bass, Punk, Ska, and House to create a hard hitting mix that has made the crew legendary live performers across the country. What seems like an impossible claim is true because of the crew's ability to stay current by adapting and mastering every style that downtown Vancouver had to offer. Years of weekly shows and freestyle jams led to a distinct sound system that blended live instruments with samplers. Trumpets, saxophones, guitars, double and electric basses, with a host of electronic triggers give the crew one of the most distinctive styles in the country."

Fascinating you say? It certainly was.

Caribou (aka Manitoba), Richards on Richards

This was a wonderfully entertaining show at Richards, a great venue to see bands at. The band, which was formerly known as Manitoba is most famous for their fabulous album 'Up in Flames' which features the track 'Skunks'. Caribou's futuristic sounding blend of vocals (recorded) and ambient electronica was presented beautifully to an attentive audience, but probably one of the best things about the show was the wonderful visual display going on behind the band throughout the set. You can get something of a feel for how creative and interesting this might have been by taking a boo at the Caribou website . Little did I know that this was just a prelude to the mind-blowing visual display promised by the Meat Beat Manifesto show later in the summer.

Chet at the Tiki Lounge (Waldorf Hotel)

Another local gem, Chet was apparently the product of whimsy and was originally formed when the two Victoria brothers Patrick and Ryan Beattie started getting together in the basement of their friend Allison Therriault who took on the role of their drummer to record some songs that Ryan had written. After a few local shows the band became a hit with locals and in 2002 they released an album called 'The Tiger is In The Window.'With their combination of soulful sounds and crooning vocals, the band is rapidly gaining popularity, particularly since the release of their 2005 album 'Ka'aui' which they were promoting when I saw them at the Tiki lounge. In the past few years they have shared stages with the likes of Modest Mouse, Fiery Furnaces, Frog Eyes, and Smog, and even opened for the popular band Arcade Fire in 2004. Check them out!

Meat Beat Manifesto at Richards

Meat Beat Manifesto was easily one of the best shows I saw this summer, and probably up there in my most enjoyable shows of all time. It's hard to even describe the kind of musical trance of ecstasy this band was able to conjure up in that little venue. It was unreal. It was a really unusual show in that it consisted of three moby-lookin dudes lined up on one side of the stage facing their imacs, and one guy on the other side of the stage with the drum set. At the back of the stage were two giant screens on which the most intriguing and fantastic visuals were shown throughout the show. Meat Beat Manifesto is the brainchild of the San Francisco vegan Jack Dangers. Their website really doesn't do the music justice, but if you ever get a chance to see these guys live, DO IT!! This was some of the most progressive, brilliant electronic stuff I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Meat Beat has actually been around for years, but being slow on the uptake, I only heard about them recently. I blame it on the years I spent living in a country where 'foreign' music was not allowed. In the case of bands like Meat Beat Manifesto, I can almost understand the logic in that restriction. After hours of dancing and sweating and becoming one with the people around me and the universe in general I can see how music like this could have the power to make people break out of their chains and go wild. Highlights of the show were when Jack Dangers pulled out a flute and played that with the mastery of a guru, and when undulating electronic beats gave way to the heartfelt 'SET ME FREE!'. Uh, just thinking about it sends shivers up my spine. I was ready to follow them on tour I tell you. Groupie til the end.

Bonobo at the Commodore

I had the pleasure of seeing Bonobo in June as part of the Jazz Festival. They played the Commodore, one of my favorite Vancouver venues. The opening band whose name I forget (sorry!) featured local artist C.R. Avery who is a harmonica genius. I don't know if he's played with that band before, but without him they were nothing special and with him, it was a whole different story. Vancouver locals, if you get a chance to see C.R. (which you will, since he does shows all the time), check him out. He plays the harmonica and beatboxes like nobody's business. He wails on the harmonica and beatboxes AT THE SAME TIME in fact, which is just something else.

Although I love their albums, I wasn't sure what to expect on seeing Bonobo live, since they are really quite downtempo chill sounding electronic jazz. I was pleasantly surprised. The British band, consisting of three Simons (Simon Green the producer on bass, Simon Little on the keyboard, and Simon James on the Cello and guitars) as well as Jack Baker on the drums, Ben Cookie on the Sax and James De Malplaquet doing really innovative electronics, percussion and vocals. James had a number of instruments that I had never seen before and wouldn't know what to call. Together the boys put on an amazing show which was really fun to watch just because it was such a complex combination of sounds and instruments coming together with such smooth jazzy cohesion. Bonobo is now on the Ninja Tune recording label. Nuff said really.

BT at Plush

Another great dance event this summer. BT , opened for by my good friend Julian Chow at Plush nightclub, was an evening of good raver-style fun. If it wasn't for the $5 bottles of water we would all have passed out of exhaustion after the amount of dancing we did that night. Awesome. BT has an awesome stage presence. He looks like the type of person who should have a cult, and in a way he does. The aura of confidence and pleasure that he has about him as he watches the masses go wild over the beats is contagious, and it's not surprising since he's widely known as the godfather of trance.

Coldplay at the Whiteriver Amphitheater in Auburn

This was the show I travelled farthest for this summer, and it was also the biggest one. It was kind of strange how freakin enormous this show was actually, and I'm not sure if I liked it. For a band like Coldplay , the intense light show, giant video screens with high speed cuts from band member to band member and Chris Martin's own wild antics flinging himself about on the stage seemed a bit overboard, but they were probably necessary to keep an audience so huge entertained. And they did a good job of it. I was disappointed that we missed Black Mountain , a local Vancouver band that I'm a big fan of because for some bizarre reason they "opened" almost two hours before Chris Martin and his cronies hit the stage. Weird. Yeah, I know, they're from Vancouver and I'll get to see them again, but I was looking forward to seeing them play the huge venue, and I keep missing them locally too! Anyway, the Coldplay show was pretty cool. Maybe the damper on it was the ridiculously large venue, the long drive down there and back, and missing the opening band. Also, they had gay liquor restrictions. You had to go into a special designated beer garden where you had your choice of about three kinds of over-priced American beer or digustingly sickly sweet coolers. You had to show two peices of ID to just get in there, then show ID again after you reached the end of the line up, and you could then only get one drink per ID. So lame.

Pearl Jam at GM Place


I had to go see Pearl Jam because I was born in 1980, which meant that just as grundge was getting popular I was in my early teens, exactly the right time for that kind of thing. I loved Pearl Jam from the first time I heard them. There is something in Eddie Vedder's voice that just reeked freedom and I found that completely irresistible. However, despite being on the floor, the show at GM Place did leave something to be desired. Another huge venue and I felt so far away from the stage it was painful (even tho we were only in row twenty-something). Security guards flanked the rows making sure that no one stepped into the aisle, let alone got anywhere close to the stage to rock out, even though being a significantly older crowd I'm sure it wouldn't have gotten too wild even if we'd been allowed to really enjoy ourselves. And is it just me, or is the enthusiasm not there quite as much as it was. Perhaps I had overly high expectations. I have a copy of the official bootleg and it's pretty good, but it doesn't quite make me feel the way that Ten and Vs. did when I was around 14.

KMFDM at Richards on Richards

My final review for today is of KMFDM , a great heavy industrial sounding techno band (?). Yeah, I know that sounds weird but this is what their website says:

"Spawned in Germany during 1984, KMFDM pioneered the crossover between techno/dance and heavy metal with their signature industrial sound"

What I don't understand is how, if they were spawned in 1984, 20 years ago, they could still be so ferociously hawt. I have to conclude that they must be vampires. Vampires that one day said 'crazy industrial German metal, meet bouncy techno/rave/dance' and somehow they two got along famously. Crazy, but true. The show was highly visually and aurally stimulating and generally good times all round. Even when the group of about 8 really big guys suddenly decided to start a mosh pit right next to me. I appreciated their enthusiasm and prepared to defend myself from flying giants, or at least duck out of the way.

And that concludes my reviews for today. In the future I'll be able to devote entire posts to a single band or CD which will be nice. Stay posted for more goodies!

Posted by Vancouver Music Junkie :: 8:59 AM :: 0 Comments:

Post a Comment

--------------------------------------- Welcome to the show!

Well, I'm just starting out and this is my first post. I'm hoping to turn the ArtBeats blog into a collection of reviews of music CDs, concerts, performance art, visual art and essentially any form of expression. I'm starting this up not only because I am an avid music fan and an avid writer/reviewer, but because I really want to share the word about not only popular music and culture, but also stuff that may not be accessible to everyone, such as local artists in my area that I think are good and worth a listen. I'll be posting pictures and hopefully audio samples in future visits.

Posted by Vancouver Music Junkie :: 1:57 AM :: 0 Comments:

Post a Comment

---------------------------------------