I'm pleased to announce that my St. Vincent pictures from Day 2 of Hopscotch are finally uploaded onto the Flickr site. Typically, though, the pictures don't look nearly as good blown up on the computer screen as they look on the little 2-inch viewfinder on the back of my camera, but they don't all quite suck, either.
Here's how the pros do it (same show, NPR photographer):
I drove home from Birmingham tonight to see Alt-J perform at the godforsaken Masquerade. I don't have time to blog about it now because I have to drive back early in the morning, but I'll just point out that Soundcheck's Maura Johnston and Chris Weingarten included Alt-J among their Worst Music Of 2012, their least favorite, least memorable and just plain worst music of the year, calling Alt-J a "mealy indie-rock gruel barely bolstered by thin, noodly attempts at 'prog rock,' paired with a sour whine."
On the other hand, All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen raved, "This record has sucked me into its trippy world like no other. Each pop/art/rock song here morphs from verse to chorus to bridge with deft precision. Rarely will 20 seconds go by before a tune unfolds with shifting arrangements, jolting starts and stops — solo voice to harmonies, solo instrument to full band — something we expect from prog-rock and rarely get with catchy pop music. The lyrics are the secret potion, though, dispensed in a way that feels cartoonish at times, film noir at other times. That exaggerated style creates a puzzle that unfolds with each listen, revealing bizarre stories and characters in phrases that are fresh and mysterious, funny and sometimes brutal. Listen over and over for lasting effect."
Back during Bumbershoot, the Minneapolis-based Low blew my mind with their subtle and melodic set, which included several new songs, including the darkly humorous Piss Cup.
NPR has included Low's forthcoming Invisible Way in their 2013 Winter Music Preview, and are streaming the new song, which apparently has now been given the slightly more elegant title, Plastic Cup. Either way, it's a killer song and worth checking out.
