Wye Oak & Shearwater Join Forces at Bowery Ballroom
Prior to their closing number, Baltimore duo Wye Oak had played an impressive set on Saturday night at Bowery Ballroom. Jenn Wasner's guitar riffs seemed to have grown even larger since the time I had seen them in December, and their presence in general had become that of a first rate indie headliner. Then they brought Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg to the stage to play a cover. The combination of Wye Oak and Shearwater covering just about any song would have worked for me at that point, but their choice of The Kinks' "Strangers" really reached into my chest and worked itself into a special place in my heart. Of all the songs in the world, "Strangers" sits very high among my favorites, and Wye Oak executed the cover exceptionally well with Meiburg providing additional guitar and backing vocals too Jenn Wasner's lead.
With 2 albums and a new ep to their credit, Wye Oak is quickly becoming one of the most exciting bands to come around in a while and one of Merge's greatest treasures. Even with Shearwater in the headline position, Wye Oak's performance was that of a band in a headline role, focused and ready for the spotlight. On most songs Andy Stack pulled double duty playing drums with his right hand and keyboard with his left. An impressive feat no matter how you look at it, even with one hand devoted to keyboards Stack's drumming is much more interesting than a majority of drummers I've seen. The band's biggest growth has come with Wasner's guitar playing. Wye Oak's 2009 sophomore record, The Knot saw them breaking out into a more guitar heavy band, and on stage at the Bowery Ballroom on Saturday night Wasner's displayed a furious command of her guitar on songs like "For Prayer" and "Take It In." The highlight of their set came with new song "I Hope You Die" thanks to Wasner's lovely vocals.
Speaking of lovely vocals, Shearwater headlined. Following an act like Wye Oak isn't easy but with a voice like Jonathan Meiburg's greatness is pretty much inescapable. At one point the sideman to Okkervil River's Will Sheff, Meiburg's voice is too overwhelmingly powerful to sit in the background. Like the voice of God commanding a room of music geeks, his voice sent chills down my spine throughout the entirety of the set. It's the type of voice so mesmerizing you can feel you eyes tear up and can find it hard to focus on anything else. But to only focus on his voice would be a shame, because Shearwater's songs are such exceptional compositions in themselves, and the performance of the entire band was incredible especially long-haired percussionist Thor Harris, who was treated as the star of the night by the devoted fans. The heavier rock songs like "Castaways" and "Black Eyes" were the biggest hits of the night.
It's rare that you get to see two bands as good as Shearwater and Wye Oak on the same non-festival bill. Both bands continue to get better and better with every record, so the future looks very bright for both of them.
The Clientele and Field Music @ Bowery Ballroom // 3.23.10
Throughout the entirety of their performance at Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday, The Clientele reminded me of the late great Alex Chilton. It was the first time I ever made the rather obvious connection—more than likely due to Chilton's recent passing. I began to feel a desire for a Big Star cover imagining that singer Alasdair MacLean could definitely pull off those vocals. Sure enough, when the band returned for their encore, a dedication to Chilton with a cover of "Nightime" followed. I think Chilton would have been proud of just how beautifully they pulled off the incredible ballad which Paul Westerberg recently called his favorite Chilton tune.
Their Big Star cover wasn't the only highlight of the set. The Clientele's own shimmering 60s-sounding pop songs shined just as brightly mostly due to MacLean's lovely breathy vocals. The bouncy "I Wonder Who We Are" from last year's Bonfires on the Heath was a standout from a set that included special guests from Veviter and Ladybug Transistor.
As good as The Clientele were, they had to be because following Field Music (as they have all tour) was not an easy feat. From start to finish the fellow English quartet flawlessly performed one of the finest sets I've ever witnessed. A fan of their records but never quite blown away by them, Field Music is best experienced live, where the harmonies are bigger and the sound is a big less clean. Crafting proggy stop-on-a-dime rhythms, the members of Field Music traded off unbelievably executed harmonies while one of 2 Brewis brothers (David and Peter) commanded lead vocals. It was the type of musicianship that makes jaws drop, particularly the bass playing. Moments like "Give It, Lose it, Take It" and "All You'd Ever Need To Say" were at a level few bands will ever reach, Radiohead territory.
Your New Favorite Band: Uninhabitable Mansions
Uninhabitable Mansions
FROM: Brooklyn, NY
RIYL: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Dirty on Purpose, The Pixies
mp3: Uninhabitable Mansions - "Do You Have a Strategy"
House Band
Recession or not, now's the time to get into Uninhabitable Mansions
At one point, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Dirty on Purpose and Au Revoir Simone were considered three of the best up-and-coming bands in New York. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's career represents the current state of indie music within blog culture, blowing up with the band's debut and then fizzling out a bit, eventually deciding to take a break in 2009 to work on side projects. One of those side projects is Uninhabitable Mansions, and the band's debut, Nature is a Taker, justifies the break.
Combining the talents of CYHSY's Tyler Sargent and Robbie Guertin, Doug Marvin of Dirty on Purpose, Au Revoir Simone's Annie Hart and guitarist Chris Diken, Uninhabitable Mansions is a local indie-rock supergroup.
The collaboration goes beyond just music, though. With the formation of Uninhabitable Mansions the band also came Uninhabitable Mansions the art collective. The bands members along with a few other artists have been participating in art fairs, publishing books, drawing comics and even scoring a dance piece.
Opening for The Antlers at Bowery Ballroom on Dec. 15, the band will be one to watch in 2010. Guitarist Chris Diken, who also plays in Radical Dads with Robbie Guertin, took some time to talk to us about the origins of Uninhabitable Mansions and the many talents of his bandmates.
New York Press: Where does the name Uninhabitable Mansions come from?
Chris Diken: I read it in an interview with an architect—someone from the era of Walter Gropius, although I don’t recall his name. He was asked about his family and whether he considered them to be part of his oeuvre, and the architect said, 'Oh yes, my children are my little uninhabitable mansions.' I have no idea what it means.
What led to the formation of the band?
In college, Robbie and I were in a band called The Glorious Nosebleed. The band broke up when we graduated, but fortunately we made a (nose) blood pact: Someday we would play again. Five years later, we reconvened in a suburban basement, next to a massage table. At first all we had was the name, some guitars and the table, which loomed in the shadows and made no sound. Then we decided to get serious and become an indie-rock supergroup. Fortunately we had numerous friends who were in bands of excellent repute.
Which idea came first, Uninhabitable Mansions the art collective or Uninhabitable Mansions the band?
The band came first. Shortly thereafter, we were asked to contribute to an art exhibition in Chicago, and we needed to call ourselves something. Surely our real names wouldn’t do. We decided to forgo imagination altogether and use this name that we were already using for something else. Really, Uninhabitable Mansions makes sense for any application. We’re opening an accounting firm next year.
How has your past work with bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Dirty On Purpose and Au Revoir Simone affected your approach and ability to book shows and get people to listen?
I think it hurts us because people expect us to be as good as those other bands and we’re not. Thankfully we can use the excuse, “We’re an art collective, what do you expect?” and wave around strange objects as a distraction. Name-dropping doesn’t work as well as some might think. It turns out that your songs have to be semi-listenable as well. If only we’d known.
Music collectives like Elephant Six, Black Mountain, and Broken Social Scene have generated many great bands who have shared musicians and ideas. Is this the direction Uninhabitable Mansions is headed?
Yes. Ideally we’d like to absorb those groups into Uninhabitable Mansions and become a supercollective. If that were the case, I think we’d also build a supercollider and conduct terrifying subatomic experiments.
How do you balance having multiple songwriters and singers?
It wasn’t easy at first, but we eventually came up with a solution: songwriting boots. If you’re wearing the boots, you can write the song and decide who gets to sing and play what parts. But if someone wrestles the boots off you mid-song, you’re back to strumming idly at boring rhythm guitar chords. Some vigilance is required, but it’s very fair.
>Uninhabitable Mansions
Dec. 15, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St. (betw. Bowery & Chrystie St.), 212-533-2111; 7:30, $15
Your New Favorite Band: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
From: Los Angeles, CA
RIYL: Polyphonic Spree, Peter Bjorn & John, Arcade Fire
mp3: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - "Janglin"
Not all hippies start jam bands, only the evil ones do.
Every day a new star is born. Charismatic, charming, talented—singer Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros has the qualities that make a star, and after seeing the band's performance at Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday night, it shouldn't take long before that happens.
The former front man of Ima Robot found his musical calling after some rough times, and embraced his inner hippie creating the fictional character of Edward Sharpe, a messianic figure that according to Ebert, Sharpe "was sent down to Earth to kinda heal and save mankind...but he kept getting distracted by girls and falling in love."
Shortly after the large ensemble band was formed under the name Edwarde Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. With that name, Ebert will have to get used to being referred to as Edward Sharpe, but like Bowie's Ziggy Stardust before him, it should be a character he can embrace as alter-ego.
On stage, with long hair, a beard and wearing white pants and an open white sports jacket (revealing his bare chest), Ebert had the presence of the messianic figure that he created for himself. Energetic and uplifting, the songs shed an overwhelming joy over the sold out Bowery Ballroom. The normally motionless New York City crowd fell into a frenzy of dancing. Even my normally arms-crossed-and-head-bopping-self got sucked into the whirlwind of fun for the entirety of the set, arriving with very little previous knowledge of the band.
I had discovered the band a couple months ago via their Daytrotter session, and although the happy, southern gospel-influenced tunes (think of a more folksy Polyphonic Spree without the choir) were pleasant, I wasn't totally won over upon first listen, but with my interest perked I decided to catch them live.
It's safe to say that the recordings are good, but they do no justice for the band. Their whistling-heavy set finale "Home"—a song now popping up everywhere—was the highlight of the night, with Ebert and Jade Castrinos sharing a perfect vocal exchange, while Ebert spent much of the song from within the worshiping crowd. My other highlight from the night came midway through the set was the darker, mood-changing "Black Water" which revealed a different side of the band and really emphasized the vocal strength of Ebert.
At times reminding me of Joe Cocker, Ebert is an incredible front man gifted in the art of commanding a crowd. It's a power the best front men have and a gift that makes for a star.
Fellow LA bands Local Natives and Fools Gold both played exceptional sets in their roles as openers. Local Natives sounded a bit like a more rock-infused Fleet Foxes, while Fools Gold felt like a Latin-heavy !!! (Chk-Chk-Chk). Expect to hear a lot more about them soon.
The three bands will continue their tour tonight at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg
Twilight Sad, BrakesBrakesBrakes, and We Were Promised Jetpacks at Bowery Ballroom
Back in the old days when there was money in the music industry, crazy shit was happening backstage and girls were having sex with bands a lot. Groupies stirred around backstage waiting to give blow jobs to singers and guitar players, and to a less extent drummers and bassists. Not so much the keyboard player.
Tuesday night, We Were Promised Jetpacks were opening for Twilight Sad at Bowery Ballroom, and in front of me an insanely intoxicated young girl was trying to find a way to get backstage to have her chance to get her, hands, lips and and whatever else onto the drummer, who apparently was friends with someone she knew. She attempted to get his attention while he pounded away at the skins, and managed to draw attention from nearly the entire crowd at times, as she and her friend sang loudly and off key, and continuously yelled things like "Scotland!" between songs. All this for a drummer in a band that hardly anyone has ever heard.
I don't know if she ever got her chance at pleasuring him, but Darren Lackie and the rest of his band sure as hell pleased the entire crowd with an intense set justifying the recent heavy dosage of attention the band has been receiving. Like much of their Scottish brothers, there is a major early U2 influence evident in their songs. It's straight forward rock 'n' roll, without the quirky bullshit that a lot of new indie bands rely upon. Theirs is the sound of a working class band, and this is no haircut band. The four members of We Were Promised Jetpacks look working class. Every minute of their set, it felt as though they were headlining, playing every as though it were their last, especially crowd favorite "Quiet Little Voices." And when they finally played their last note, the venue cleared out a bit, despite a pair of very solid bands following them.
First to follow was Fat Cat labelmates BrakesBrakesBrakes. Equipped with a sense of humor and very short songs, they failed to make the same level of impact as We Were Promised Jetpacks. Their songs were varied from country to punk to power pop, often times hinting at Teenage Fanclub's under-appreciated sounds. If only every song was as good as "Don't Take Me to Space (Man)" their set would have been brilliant.
Headlining the night was Twilight Sad who are touring in support of their new record "Forget the Night Ahead." Sophomore records are tough. Like like The Strokes, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and even The Clash have suffered at trying to follow up a remarkable debut, and I feel that Twilight Sad's debut can definitely be called remarkable. The odd cryptic storytelling and driving noise made for a chilling effect, as the band combined the sounds of My Bloody Valentine, U2, and former tourmates Frightened Rabbit. Unfortunately the band's sophomore record doesn't quite measure up to its predecessor. It's darker, it's heavier, and at times owes a bit to Mogwai, but fails to be as interesting. I hoped my feelings about the record would change when hearing it performed live, but their performance seemed to lag when performing the new songs. That said, older songs like "Talking with Fireworks/Here, It Never Snowed" sounded just as brilliant live as on record, performed with an extra passion. The highlight of the performance came when singer James Graham decided to sing "Cold Days From the Birdhouse" from within the crowd. It's moments like that that can be the turning point between a good show and an unforgettable one.
The Tallest Man on Earth is Getting Even Bigger
The Tallest Man on Earth/John Vanderslice
Bowery Ballroom, 6.13.09
A man standing alone on stage, armed only with his acoustic guitar and his words, has to be good, or the crowd will quickly turn against him. Each additional musician filling the stage is an extra level of protection for a man about to lay his soul on the line. They help divide the focus of the crowd. Place an attractive female on that stage and all of a sudden eyes are just as locked onto her as the man with the microphone.
Kristian Matsson, a relatively short Swedish folk singer goes by the name The Tallest Man on Earth, and when he took the stage at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday night, he might as well have been. He seemed to feed off of the undivided attention laid upon him. He exerted a commanding presence that is hard to accomplish, especially when still building a following. But there was something about the way Matsson engaged his crowd with an intense eye contact, and more importantly, masterfully written songs.
When I was walking along Delancey following the show, I overheard someone joke "I really like that song. You know the one he played over and over." I guess this is a common assessment of lyrical songwriters—I've even heard this complaint about Bob Dylan. There will probably never be another songwriter quite as brilliant as Bob Dylan, and while every year another singer-songwriter is given the unfair title of "the next Dylan," The Tallest Man on Earth is definitely the closest thing I've seen in a long time. Like Dylan, Mattson knows how to tell an engaging story through well crafted prose, all while never losing his musical focus.
With songs loaded with substance, and his ability to command a large crowd, while standing alone on a dark stage, The Tallest Man on Earth has a bright future ahead of him.
Dividing tour headline duties with The Tallest Man on Earth, John Vanderslice opened Saturday night's Bowery Ballroom concert, after headlining Music Hall of Williamsburg the previous night. Vanderslice has always been been one of the most underrated indie musicians since since crafting his debut "Mass Suicide Occult Figurines" in 2000. Despite the critical acclaim his received over the years, he's never quite become a household name. "Romanian Names," his new record and first on the Dead Oceans label (which I consider the best label in music currently), is his best to date. The songs are consistently great from start to finish, and during his set at Bowery Ballroom, they were definitely the highlights, especially The Shins-like "Fetal Horses."
Department of Eagles @ Bowery Ballroom
Department of Eagles/Here We Go Magic
Bowery Ballroom / 1.19.09
The lights were dim, the floor was comfortably crowded, and the audience was remarkably quiet and respectful. They were much more like a Carnegie or BAM audience than the chatter heavy rock venue crowd, but then again Department of Eagles are also not terribly rock. Also a member of Grizzly Bear, Dan Rossen started out the set alone on stage, seated and plucking away at his banjo while his lovely voice consumed the crowd on "Balmy Night." Afterwards, he was joined on stage by Fred Nicolaus and their new rhythm section. They played nearly every song from the outstanding "In Ear Park," including a lovely rendition of "Herringbone" played solo by Rossen on piano. Nicolaus referred to it as the million dollar song, because they can't usually afford to bring a piano with them on tour, but they gave New York City a special treat. The glaring omission from the set list was "Teenagers" which fans shouted out requests for at the end of the set, but the band refused.
Any fan of the record had to be happy about getting into the sold out show. While they didn't bring a lot of extra magic to their songs live, they were tight, and Luke Temple's new project Here We Go Magic was a real added bonus. Their set was almost as good as Department of Eagles. Intelligent indie rock led by Luke Temple's well-crafted acoustic strums and airy vocals, they're definitely a band to look out for.
Let Them Eat Sea & Cake
The Sea & Cake/Death Vessel
Bowery Ballroom, 11.10.08
If you come to a The Sea & Cake show expecting a gimmicky balls-to-the-wall rock show, you've surely come to the wrong place. The jazz-influenced Chicago quartet has been making some of the most chilled out music for over a decade now. On Monday night, they spent the bulk of their set showcasing the new songs from "Car Alarm." Much like the band, the crowd was relaxed and totally respectful. I've never been a huge fan, I feel that their songs can flow so smoothly that they put me into a hypnotic trance. It's the perfect music for a lazy Sunday afternoon, so I couldn't help but think that the Bowery Ballroom should have been filled with comfy couches, where we could all sit back with a glass of wine and soak in those perfect tones and breathy vocals of Sam Prekop.
To make things even better, Sub Pop's Death Vessel opened for The Sea & Cake. After seeing them play a wonderful set at Pianos during CMJ, I couldn't help but be overjoyed to see them play again. After seeing them that first time, their sophomore record, "Nothing is Precious Enough For Us," has become an obsession. Essentially the solo project of Joel Thibodeau, precious is the perfect word to describe his music. Thibodeau's high falsetto helps make his somewhat traditional folk arrangements standout from the pack. Playing on Monday with only violin accompaniment, his performance felt intimate, and was once again very impressive.
Morning Benders Played Bowery Ballroom Last Night; Death By Audio Tonight
The Morning Benders
Bowery Ballroom
10.16.08
If you went to the Bowery Ballroom last night, there's a good chance you have a song stuck in your head. Each of the three bands that played write the type of pop songs that attach themselves to your brain and without sucking out your soul away (like shitty mindless pop).
By now, headliners Ra Ra Riot are poised for greatness and getting all of the attention they deserve for being one of the best young bands alive. Last night did little to hurt the hype, with every minute of their set being purely magical, especially the exceptional strings which tie the songs together. Every blog in NYC will be talking about their performances last night and tonight. If you have a chance to see them, do yourself a favor and catch them now before they become superstars.
Berkeley's The Morning Benders have been on the road with Ra Ra Riot for a while now, and played an excellent opening set last night. With some of the catchiest songs of any bands around today, they showered us with a golden platter of sunny '60s rock. I don't like to bring up age when talking about a band—if a band is good, they're good—but it's hard not to marvel at the maturity of their songwriting at such a young age. Like former tour mates, The Kooks, what they're doing isn't going to change music. It's not something that hasn't been done for years and years, but they're really good at it. And sometimes, our ears/brains can't handle knob twisting noise experimentation, and a great catchy song like set-closer "Waiting For A War" is exactly what we need.
The Morning Benders will be at Death By Audio in Williamsburg tonight for a much more intimate show that promises to be a lot of fun.
Ra Ra Riot will be at Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight and Sound Fix Records Sunday night.
