Saturday, May 3, 2014

MFNW 2014

MusicfestNW

Okay, to be honest and to get off to a good start by addressing the positive comments first, this isn't the worst festival lineup of 2014 so far, and Sunday in particular is pretty appealing (any single day that one can catch Spoon, tUnE-yArDs, The Antlers, Pink Mountaintops, and EMA can't be bad).  But the only band I'd really want to see on Saturday would be Future Islands, there's no Friday shows, and this MFNW lineup is a far, far cry from last year's.

MusicFestNW Lineup

Yes, the lineup for the stripped down, single-staged, miniaturized MFNW 2014 has finally been announced, and there are no Swans, no St. Vincent, no Courtney Barnett, no Sun Kil Moon.  No riding back and forth across the Burnside Bridge on the No. 20 bus getting from venue to venue.  No KEXP daytime shows at The Doug Fir.  No Mary's.  No reason to travel to Oregon for the festival.

Now, if I happened to live in Portland anyway, and if I had nothing else to do that weekend, then, yes, I probably would go.  But I'm not going to fly cross country to participate, especially when I've got this coming up right in my back yard:

WebPoster

And this later this summer:


But rather than mourn the demise of MFNW, I can console myself that I got to participate in the old format for three years before the plug finally got pulled.

Friday, May 2, 2014

Lost In The Trees, The Earl, Atlanta, May 1, 2014


And the hits keep on coming, as they say.  Last night marked the third weeknight of live music in a row, this time the wonderful Lost In The Trees at The Earl.


Opening was Houston's Wild Moccasins, a poppier band than Lost In The Trees to be sure, but a lot of fun.  Rumor has it they'll be coming back to Atlanta on June 20 to play 529.




Last year's Lost In The Trees show at The Earl was one of the best of the year, so my expectations were pretty high for last night. Since last year, frontman Ari Picker has restructured the band, doing away with the strings for a leaner, more rock sound, but still characterized by his heart-felt lyrics and captivating harmonics. The expectations were high but, man, did they deliver, putting on what will have to be one of the better shows of 2014. 


They primarily played songs from their fine new album, Past Life, as well as older favorites, including Ari Picker solo renditions on Walk Around The Lake and Song For The Painter (encore).  The small audience (where was everybody?) clearly loved the band and were familiar with their oevure, and the frequently noisy Earl was uncharacteristically quiet and attentive between songs.  



Putting my money where my mouth is, I bought a clear vinyl copy of Past Life from singer/keyboardist Emma Nadeau after the show, and have been enjoying it (and its CD companion) all day today.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks at The Masquerade, April 30, 2014

Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks

It was around 7:00 pm that I noticed a Facebook post by promoter The Bowery South stating that there were less than 50 tickets remaining for last night's show by Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks, and that if you wanted to get in, you better hurry down to the godforsaken Masquerade right now.   I didn't have a ticket despite multiple unsuccessful attempts to purchase one through TicketMaster (something about redeeming a gift card that I didn't have), so I got to the venue by about 7:45, hoping that it hadn't yet sold out.

There were already people in the ticket-holders line waiting for the doors to open at 8:00, but the woman in the box office told me that she couldn't sell any tickets yet, and that I would have to wait until the doors opened before making my purchase.  She couldn't explain why the promoter was encouraging people to rush down to the box office ASAP, except for, well, you know, promoters.  So I was the first person in line to wait to purchase a ticket so that I could wait in the other line to enter so that I could wait in a third line to show my id (it was an all-ages show, but I needed to show an id and get a wrist band if I wanted to purchase adult beverages) so that I could finally enter the venue.

or

Reasons I Hate The God-Forsaken Masquerade, Number 115.



Reason Number 116 was the audience.  If you had a high-school diploma, you were older than the median age of the crowd, and if you were old enough to vote, you were in the far tail end of the age distribution curve. If you were me, you were probably twice as old as the next oldest person at the show.  It's not that I have anything against young people, far from it, it's just that I felt conspicuous and, well, downright creepy when closely pressed near the front of the stage in a throng of kids barely a third of my own age.

Which brings us to Reason Number 117 - the venue itself. The sight lines in the Purgatory room, where last night's show was held (the other two stages at The Masquerade, Heaven and Hell, were already full with hard rock and metal bands) are terrible, with the stage barely a foot higher than the floor and a post smack in the middle front of the stage.  Add to that the narrowness of the room, such that only about 8 to 10 people can stand abreast at the front of the stage, and you have a situation where everyone has to bunch together in a tightly pressed mass of human bodies at the front of the room in order to even have a chance to seeing the performers.  Truth be told, the situation is not that different from East Atlanta Village's 529 (except for the post), but the older patrons of the latter bar have a little more respect for each other's personal space, and you don't find yourself caught up in some sort of bizarre frottage orgy with a bunch of 16-year-olds for the hour between the doors opening and the first band starting.

Baltimore's Dustin Wong took the stage at 9:00 pm sharp.  We saw Wong once before when he opened for Beach House at Variety Playhouse, and were quite impressed with his multi-layered, loop-driven guitar playing.  Because he works so many pedals, he sits down to perform, rendering himself out of sight for a good 80% of the audience.  But despite the lack of visibility, he won over the young audience with his densely layered, fast-paced music and its sudden, turn-on-a-dime changes, and quite a few people in the crowd were noticeably awe-struck by the end of his set.  
              


So that was a nice moment and actually made me forget for a few minutes how much I detest the god-forsaken Masquerade.

During the 30-or-so uncomfortable minutes after Dustin Wong's set, the audience was treated to a dj set by Deerhunter's Bradford Cox from somewhere in the room (I didn't see his set-up anywhere, and wasn't about to give up my spot near the front of the stage to go and find him).  He mostly spun ironic, old-school pop songs, but by about 10:00, he started over-dubbing some vintage country music with atonal electronic music to a rather unsettling and even unpleasant effect.   This went on for a good 10 minutes before Avey Tare and his band, Slasher Flicks, finally took the stage.


There are many reasons why I couldn't get a good picture of Slasher Flicks last night.  First, of course, were the aforementioned terrible sight lines in the room, and second, the stage was lit only by a projector displaying psychedelic images against a bunch of white skull masks set up behind the stage.  Add to all that the fact that Avey Tare himself spent much of his time crouching down at his pedals, and the constant craning of necks by the people around me trying to get a glimpse of the performers, and the pictures above is about the best that I could manage.

Anyhow, Slasher Flicks is the side project of Animal Collective's Avey Tare, and his distinctive voice makes Slasher Flicks instantly recognizable as an AnCo spin-off.  He's joined by bandmates Angel Deradoorian (Dirty Projectors) on keyboards and backing vocals and Jeremy Hyman (Ponytail, Dan Deacon) on drums.


The sound mix was terrible (Reason No.118), consisting primarily of Hyman's manic drumming at the top of the mix, with the high-end of Deradoorian's keys beneath it, and Avey Tare's vocals way down below and barely audible.  I hardly heard his guitar at all.  Mixing problems like this are usually resolved by the second or third songs, but it stayed that way throughout the entire set.  Which was a shame, as what I was able to make out sounded pretty interesting.  This is a band I would love to hear at a real venue some day, not at some sort of playground for high schoolers.

So I know all of this sounds very plaintive and whiny, but am I sorry that I went?  Not at all.  Wong was terrific, and a project like Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks may or may not be a one-off tour.  I had to go for myself if for no other reason than just to see what it was like.   

My only regret was that the show was at the godforsaken Masquerade, who did everything they possibly could to ruin the night.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

EMA at The Drunken Unicorn, Atlanta, April 29, 2014

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Update: Somehow, I managed to lost the entire original post about Tuesday night's show at The Drunken Unicorn (old people and technology), so this is a complete re-post.

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As I recall, the show opened with Atlanta's No Eyes (Georgie Seanny), who was joined on wordless vocals for one song by William Fussell of Mood Rings.  Most of the people in the audience other than me were with the other bands playing later, and Erica M Anderson (EMA) herself was crouching down near the front, recording most of No Eyes set on her iPhone, and seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit. 

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Providence, Rhode Island's The Downtown Boys were up next, playing high energy, sax-driven, garage punk.  Everyone had a lot of fun both on and off the stage, with EMA and her band dancing throughout the set.



I've been wanting to see EMA live for years now, ever since I first heard The Grey Ship.  I'm pleased to report that her show Tuesday night was even better than I had hoped.

IMAG0305

She played several songs off her new record, The Future's Void, opening with Satellites, and included California near the middle of her set, and even threw in a Bikini Kills cover.  



For someone with such a nihilistic body of work, she came across much more personable and likable than you might expect, shyly acknowledging the audience's compliments and keeping her stage banter pretty direct and honest.  I was disappointed that the audience was so small, and our attempt at an encore call fizzled out, but even as we started reluctantly filing out of the club, Erika came out on stage and asked if we wanted to hear one more.  Her generosity and humility kept the potentially awkward moment from being any more  uncomfortable than it needed to be.

That's about as much as I can remember.  It was a fun, fun night and all of the bands played highly disparate but terrific music.  A good night all around.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Annie Woodward



Annie Woodward is a singer/songwriter from Norway who fell into music "through theater through poetry through lots of random throughs."  She describes her music as "independent quirky folk meets alternative rock on a day off getting lost."  Recently, she introduced herself to this modest blog with the comment, "Hey, if you like CocoRosie, check out my folk rock with balls here: soundcloud.com/anniewoodward. Oh and I'm from Norway, peace, Annie."

If you like her sound as much as I do, you really ought to check out her Soundcloud.  You can hear the CocoRosie influence, as well as so much more if you give the songs even half a chance.


Nice to make your acquaintance, Ms. Woodward!  Come to Atlanta and play The Earl some day.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Warpaint

Warpaint at Bumbershoot, 2011
Wondering when Warpaint will get around to touring the American South again, or if our paths will cross on the festival circuit?