Author: admin

I would have never thought about putting Sam Beam of Iron & Wine and Calexico together in the same room, but if you think about it, it makes all the sense in the world. I don’t know too much about the new EP “In the Reins” other than Beam wrote the majority of the songs and had always wanted Calexico to play the songs with him. He originally wanted them to assist on his debut “The Creek Drank the Cradle”. The EP is a great collaboraive effort taking Beam’s whispery vocals and addind Calexico’s lively musical arrangements. The album helps take Beam further away from dreamy bedroom folk music to more energetic songs.

Although I would have preferred to see the performance in any other venue than Webster Hall, the sound didn’t seem to destroy the energy in the room. The show was sold out and the crowd was way more subdued than the previous time he came by. If anything, the crowd was TOO mellow. Nevertheless, the show rocked, having Calexico play first, then followed with a solo performance of Iron & Wine. Afterwards the 2 bands met up together to play the songs of “In the Reigns”. I enjoyed the songs better live than on disk. A treat was having a guest vocalst (don’t know his name) from Mexico to add more vocal punch to the set. They show was over 2 hours and worth every second.

The place was really crowded so I only got these few crappy pictures of the show.

I was excited that Mazarin was finally playing a big venue like Bowery. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much of a turnout and very few fans in the crowd. Moreover, they seem to be always plagued with a poor live sound setting. Quentin’s voice always seems to get muffled and inundated with the rest of the bands instruments. It’s unfortunate that the band is so hit or miss live because they are one of my top 10 favorite bands. Nevertheless, the proceeded to play songs mostly from their new album which kinda grew on me big time these past few months. It’s winding out to be one of the best albums of 05. The band had zero stage presence even during the incredibly energtic song “My Favorite Green Hill”. They did do a great performance of “New American Apathy” off their new record.

Rogue Wave was up next and there’s no avoiding the buzz that’s around this band. The new album is a great collection of atmospheric chill songs and downright good indie pop. There’s some really good production on the album and it carried through to their live set. Many of their songs have interesting arrangements and progressions which make this band more intersting than the rest of the pack. It’s that sense of unpredictability that I like but sadly nothing too crazy. Nevertheless, they played a very tight show to a sold out crowd of adoring fans. I was very impressed and look forward to seeing them again in February/March. DEFINITELY, a band to watch in 2006.

http://www.mazarinband.com/

http://www.roguewavemusic.com/

See some pictures of the night here.

I was lucky enough to catch Neko at Joe’s Pub on Thursday. Very excited especially after a great performance with the New Pornogrphers. Happy to see her at a much preferred venue than Webster Hall. She played several new songs with her amazing back up band. She looked stunning as expected. Check out some photos from the show. Afterwards we hurried over to the Mercury Lounge to catch Matt Pond PA. I was surprised to find out that the show was sold out with a decent line to get in. They had just started and with little hope to get in, the chilly night made us head home (still humming Neko). Hopefully Matt Pond will hit NY again as their new album is quite good.