Category: Music

Didn’t know too much about this trio from Brooklyn, but with a name like Meowskers it’s hard not to think the worst. I wasn’t ready for what came out of the monitors from their first song. The lead singer’s voice was quite peculiar but it matched the band’s retro yet present melodies.

The local fans came out again for O’Death’s second night at Mercury Lounge. They put on a predictably rocking show. Despite the unexpected death of david’s fiancé, the band has persevered and is continuing their momentum taking over venues with their bluegrass heavy rock. The show was all energy, with fans dancing, stomping and passing around bottles of whiskey. The air smelled of liquor, body order, and rock n roll. This will probably be the last time the band will play such a small venue.

Pictures from the show.

http://meowskers.com/
http://odeath.net/

When not drumming for Wilco, Glenn Kotche is putting out some fascinating solo percussion albums. His instrument setup on stage was quite overwhelming. It engulfed him with countless drums and peculiar noise making devices. His live showed added a more experimental and lively addition to his rhythmic and technical songs.

The other fellow Chicago instrumentalist, Andrew Bird took the stage playing a lot of his older and more intimate songs solo. It was enjoyable to see Andrew give his songs a unique interpretation in a live setting. He even played a new one he was working on which I particularly enjoyed. With a mutant gramophone spinning wildly in the back, the rest of the band joined him to play the highly textured songs off his new album. Despite the fact that I consider Armchair Apocrypha one of the best albums of 2007, his overall live show was a surprising letdown. He played his songs with amazing precision and amazed me with his movement between violin, guitar and even whistling. However the show just lacked the dramatic range I was expecting. I felt that the songs could have been improvised and pushed even more than what his albums hint at. No Scythian Empires but he did wear some really fun socks.

Pictures from the show.

http://glennkotche.com/
http://www.andrewbird.net/

Martha Wainwright kicked things off tonight and played a rather long set of her emotionally charged songs. The Beacon Theatre was sold out for The Swell Season which consists of The Frames Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. There was a palpable energy in the air and it began when Glen sang sans-microphone on the edge of the stage. They played songs from the Once soundtrack which is filled with songs of troubled romance and desperate love. Their 2 voices harmonize beautifully, whether Glen or Markéta is in the lead. The music was pure poetry and the Beacon was a great setting for it making it somehow feel very intimate. I had the same goose-bumps during the performance as I did during the movie and it was one the best performances I’ve experienced in quite a while.

Pictures and Audio from the show.

Canada’s Cadence Weapon was the opener tonight. I felt his slick rapping was an odd choice for the evening but Owen came out to play a song with him which was kinda neat. I’ve seen Final Fantasy several times now, and he has always put on a fun performance. I was a bit shocked that they booked him at Bowery but a big crowd did come out to see him. He played for an hour and encored with the always enjoyable cover of Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy”.

Pictures from the show.

http://www.cadenceweaponmusic.com/
http://www.myspace.com/owenpalletmusic

Very quick catchy pop songs came from Toronto’s Small Sins, and I found them to be quite amusing but musically perplexing. Why did they need 5 people to play the simplest of songs and a guitar player that added just noise over the electronic melodies? The lyrics were downright childish and tended to be repeated over and over like a bad nursery rhyme. The keyboard solo at the end was funny but I’ll pass the next time these guys come around again.

When I found out that Land of Talk cancelled their Tuesday night show, I quickly got rid of my ticket and hoped that they’d be back for Thursday night. The trio from Montreal showed up with a short haired Elizabeth Powell. I’ve been crazy about this band ever since I got their EP and they get my vote for best new band of 07. The music is dirty and sexy and I tend to raise the volume whenever their songs pop up on shuffle. Their live shows are more sensual and moving as they hook you with the hypnotic drone of Liz’s voice and then attack with powerful post-punk guitar and bass hooks.

Holy Feedback Batman! Film School swings by from the west coast to give us their dreamy pop music. Although I could never really get into them since their SXSW days, their live set was much more exciting than their recordings. Their psychedelic songs have a gritty edge to them and the introduction of some female vocals added another, but not too goth-y dimension to the music. The music did set a wonderful wash of sound but after a few songs it just got to be a little monotonous and all the feedback made everything too muddy. Nevertheless, the new album is quite good and wouldn’t mind them entering into the soundtrack of my dreams (at least for a little bit)

Pictures from the show

Links:
http://www.smallsinsmusic.com/
http://www.landoftalk.com/
http://www.filmschoolmusic.com/