OCDJ | Dan Deacon | Octopus Project @ McCarren Pool

Another perfect afternoon to spend at the hipster pool. I love his show on WFMU and an unexpected treat to catch OCDJ live. He was dressed up in dog costume and heated things up quickly on the cracked concrete floor. Dan Deacon was up next and this guy is either a fucking genius or the worst electronic musician around. Maybe it’s a little bit of both but one thing’s for sure, you can’t help wanting to get close to the energy and chaos that ensues when he starts twiddling the knobs of his archaic noise machines. As soon as the song “The Crystal Cat” with it’s eerie meows and insane vocal distortion yelps through the speakers, you can’t help just throwing yourself into the stupid insanity. Be sure to check out the video below of some of the dancing that could only occur during his set. The water started to seep from the well used slip n’ slide creating more wet stomping fun as the crowd got ready for the balloon-tastic set of Octopus Project. All super fun and all for free.

My pictures from the show.

Links:
Video: Dance Tag (audio is horrible, just watch the visuals)
http://www.myspace.com/ocdjmusic
http://www.myspace.com/dandeacon

Boredoms w/ 77 Drummers @ Brooklyn Bridge Park

07 07 2007. A magical sunny day with lots of energy in the summer air. Spiral in the park accented with drummers; in the center The Boredoms commanding. The Brooklyn Bridge became the balcony platform to not only hear but view the spectacle. Starting at 7:07 and lasting over 2 hours, the rolling booms penetrated the air. It was captivating to see the unit play in unison and at times have intricate compositions. It was like a flower where the petals fluttered violently screaming to be heard.

+/- | Oakley Hall | Superchunk @ McCarren Park

I love the free shows at McCarren park, and this year the season started off perfect. The beer lines were much more tame and the slip n’ slide and dodge ball were in full force. Everyone was in good spirits and it was just the right amount of sun. The music was a perfect backdrop for an enjoyable and very Brooklyn public outdoor outing.

I’ve always felt the music of +/- was uninspired and boring and their live show continues with that thought. Oakley Hall had more energy and picked things up a bit with the crowd and doing a better job filling the huge venue. But the highlight of course was North Carolina’s Superchunk. Easily one of the best and most influential punk pop bands, they came out with a lot of energy playing a ton of their songs. Although their newish stuff hasn’t evolved much from “No Pocky for Kitty” (one of the best named albums of all time) their craft for pure indie rock still shines. A very enjoyable free day ending with yummy cheap polish food.

Pictures from the show.
Brooklynvegan has better ones.

http://www.superchunk.com/

Rusty Santos | Panda Bear @ Bowery Ballroom

Caught the tail end of Rusty Santos’s set. The lead singer had a lot of energy flailing around on stage which gave the show a bit more energy. Although I felt the songs were a bit rough, it’s good to see the band give this type of music some action on stage.

Panda Bear (Noah Lennox ) set up behind a small table of electronic boxes to a sold out crowd. He began to play his series of songs and ones from his newest album “Perfect Pitch,” which is pretty fantastic. The music is highly layered and his use of repetition helps tame the varied melodies found in the album. His songs are meticulously constructed making it very engaging and not too formulaic. The music was enjoyable live and at times became trance-like, but with electronic based music like this, not much energy came out of the room. Behind him a very large screen projected psychedelic scenes ranging from color mutations to disturbing looped scenes of screaming fans. I felt the imagery complimented the audio very well and without it would make a pretty dull show.

Pictures from the show.

http://www.myspace.com/rippityrippity

How often do you find the right person?

Featuring Glen Hansard from the band The Frames, the film Once is about an Irish street musician and a Czech immigrant sharing a musical experience together, and ultimately revealing a unique love story. The movie can be called a “musical” but it handles the format in an engaging way. The story is built around the music where at times the songs intersect the story and sometimes it takes center stage. Considering many of the captivating songs had come from the album “The Cost,” the music is the driving force through the film. The movie becomes a fully narrative music video which takes an intimate look inside two people’s lives, their love, and the creative process. I loved the film and plan to see it again.

http://www.foxsearchlight.com/once/