Friends. And ranting.

These two subjects are not, in this instance, related.

A recent peep at Department of Eagles' MySpace page showed that, as if being perfect in every other respect wasn't enough, they also had the perfect number of virtual friends.

Well ain't that a surprisingly consecutive numerical thing.

On the subject of ranting, this is just an advisory note to say that 'rant' is being added as a label, in case the subjects of my ire might be worth appraising in a single viewing. This will be retrospectively applied to the couple of previous posts that included especially displeased comment, as distinct from minor sniping.

Soap&Skin, Jack November

24 March 2010
Alhambra, Paris

Today was full of gig-related sightings. I spotted Anja out and about a couple of times during the afternoon - darkly moody singer secretly cheerful in her spare time shocker! - and her band ate in the same restaurant that I did. So I was well primed for the show.

Initial unsatisfactory impression of the venue for the usual queueing/bag search/water-in-the-bin-buy-more-expensive-water type reasons. Despite these modest but sadly predictable failings, I was then considerably less impressed with seats that somehow managed to not give enough room for my legs - when the seat was folded down, there was about 7cm between the front of of it and the back of the chair in front. Come on people, measure a knee, I bet it is more than 7cm. What the fucking fuck is that all about? For a €25 seat I would hope to be able to accommodate my limbs as part of the deal; perhaps that charge was specifically to provide a temporary residence for my derriere, and I was supposed to make my own arrangements for other body parts I was foolish enough to have with me.

Incroyable.

Some further specifics:

- talking of legs, Ms Plaschg has a fine pair. Must be a contender for Angel Deeradorian's claim to the best pins in music.

- support act was a very attractive blonde young woman, who was a kind of parallel universe S&S mini-me, performing under the name of Jack November, mostly with a harmonium. If you ever get the chance to see her, don't bother unless it is a guaranteed two-song set.

- much anticipated headline show with band of 2 violins, cello, double bass, brass player and a backing vocalist/ melodica contributor. (I can confirm to you that these people do indeed eat food, and speak German.)

- I think the ensemble were slightly under-used, as at a few points their impact was thrilling - sometimes a shock of violin, sometimes the rumble of the double bass - but there was still a reliance on beats, hisses, clicks etc BOOMING out from the laptop. If she added a percussionist to her band that might allow the laptop to just be used for emails and so on.

- a predictably wonderful performance, dramatic and intense, sometimes even spine-tingling. And one of these days she is definitely going to break out into full-on robot dancing.

- I would really like to see all the instruments unamplified at the Union Chapel show, with just voices and laptop run through the PA. I may start a Facebook campaign, but then I'd have to join...

Grizzly Bear, Beach House: floating on an effervescent sea of loveliness

The Roundhouse
13 & 14 March 2010 (both nights, lucky ol' me)

The Grizzlers were predictably sumptuous; they are completely at the top of their game, and The Roundhouse gave them scope to let rip.

Above and beyond delivering their set in immaculate fashion, there seem to be some developments afoot. Segways have now started to appear between some of the tunes, rather than treating each song as a complete stand-alone entity. Subtle variations are also apparent in some of the arrangements, and where I had felt at previous shows that precisely replicating the recordings was the aim, the signs are that a gently developing approach is being taken to live shows as a new opportunity. I hope that this route is pursued, as they are clearly up to the task of finding a parallel life for their music in the live forum.

I could witter on about how some concerns with a slight imbalance in the sound mix on Saturday were fixed on Sunday, but that kind of thing is a bit dull, frankly. Instead I shall mention that there were just a couple of changes to the set list between the two nights, and that when the boys were joined by Victoria from Beach House the quintuple harmony was breathtaking. Harmonies generally are widely documented as a strong suit of live Grizzly action, but 5 > 4. My personal good fortune has been to see Victoria join the band now on four of the five times I have seen them.

So - is a ticket to Latitude required to catch the next installment, or will there be a London show to help balance the books? Hmm....

Oh, and Beach House. They do have a few good songs, and they make a nice sound, but the music is rather one-paced, so an extended hearing doesn't really help distinguish one thing from another. Zebra and Gila stand out, from the current and previous albums, but a certain dynamic is lacking.

And because it made me so happy on Saturday, I crossed my fingers and hoped that the same treat would be in store for us as encore on Sunday, and it was. So - my first attempt at a video: All We Ask

Grizzly Bear, London, Sunday 14th March 2010 from Gone Tothedogs on Vimeo.

Summer Camp @ RoTa

Notting Hill Arts Club
13 March 2010


Photo: Anika
A full-band run out this time for SC, as they gradually emerge from their chrysalis into the hazy light of early spring; as basement clubs in Notting Hill don't feature much in the way of daylight, so perhaps it was a suitable setting. When I saw their recent first live appearance it was unannounced, this time they were listed under an alias that was only made semi-public in the hours before the gig, via twitter to people who presumably already knew. They aren't exactly an epic-scale supergroup so these measures seem a bit extreme, but no harm done.

Their launch strategy has been fairly well calculated, as following the internet teaser campaign starting last year, and now these shows on the QT, they seem to have landed fully-formed and well able to deliver on the promise, with no real hitches evident. And in singer Elizabeth Sankey they have a glamorous focal point with a cool stare, which is always a Good Thing. Although there is a sense of nervousness behind the deadpan facade, the no flim-flam approach suits her well.

The slick dance-pop songs are not exactly revolutionary, but are elegant, catchy and well conceived, and were cleanly delivered and sounded great. If it continues to come together well in the full-sun glare of Texas next week, they may not need to build their own on-line buzz anymore, as others will do it for them.

Panda Bear, Kurt Vile: thank you for smoking

Heaven
11 March 2010

In some danger of receiving terminal doses of reverb, the only sensible thing to do was to go to the pub between acts, so we did; thank you, smoking regulations - drifting in and out of the venue could not have been simpler. And as The Forces of Information Dispersal had made it known that there would be a 75 minute DJ set from Kode 9 between the evening's live performers, so an additional amount of proper beer could be administered. Sorry Heaven, if you ask £4 for a can of Red Stripe that has up to 15 minutes wait attached, well, there are simple solutions to that issue...

Kurt Vile was all alone for this show, and was finished by 8, which is fine as long as you have picked up the tip, but seemed unhelpfully early. He fuzzed and jangled along, with trademark loose approach to sticking to the tune - 'singing through the note', would be the jazzy term - matched in his guitar playing with either unexpected tunings or deliberately awkward chord constructions, making a kind of pleasing tuneful dissonance.

Film from Berlin concert in January, Animal Collective cover

There is a willful suspension of disbelief needed, if I may refer back to my Eng Lit studies, with AnCo related live action. The often fairly accessible songs, in fact arguably simple enough to be comparable to nursery rhymes with added electrowonk, become something darker and less structured; longer can be spent in the transition between songs than on the version of the piece itself, and patience is required for the spectacle to develop into occasional climaxes separated by burbling experimental diversions.

As with his group project, Panda Bear treats his solo live sets as a place for experimenting with songs, concentrating on as-yet unpublished new material, with only an occasional reference back to familiar territory. The songs were perhaps not deconstructed to quite the extent of an Animal Collective show, although the forthcoming album will undoubtedly be more concise and focused than the live performance, which was at times mesmerising, working well with the video projection, but also sometimes underwhelming. I look forward to the album, but would also be very interested if anyone is actually able to tell me the address of the Emperor's tailor.

Champion Lyricists: Abner Jay

"She fascinated me,
'cos I liked to run my fingers through her....
money"

from St James Infirmiry Blues

A beautiful sentiment, elegantly expressed; if only all marriages worked as smoothly.

Abner Jay-St. James Infirmiry Blues

Is Tropical, Glasser, Milk: one step forward, two steps back

The Lexington
4 March 2010

Towards the end of a slightly un-together set, openers Milk mentioned that this was their first gig, which was a modest surprise - the proceedings had been a bit haphazard at times, especially with one apparently mucked-up drumbeat, but overall no real train-wreck. More bothersome than their performance was their apparent arrival straight from 1984; patterned puffy-sleeved shirts buttoned up to the neck may, perhaps, be forgiveable, but sounding similarly retrospective is less appealing. Why bother being in a band that just sounds like a composite of an edition of the David Kid Jensen show? For all that, they seem to have something about them, and if they can get over the 80's thing they still might find what they are looking for, ho ho.

Glasser also surprised with their unexpected costumes, which seemed to signify that they weren't confident in just going out and playing, which was also reflected in the absence of any chat whatsoever. They whacked out a massive, fuzzy, unclear, overly bass-heavy sound that did themselves no favours at all; I have tracks of theirs that could probably work with being beefed up (dumbed down?) for live shows, but not to this extent. Whether it was down to the sound guy or their own preference is hard to say, but all subtleties were lost in the mess, which was a shame. Apply was one of my most-played tracks of last year, and I was hoping to come away from this with more to enjoy, but not on this showing.

Then after that mis-firing version of The Future, we again went straight back in time - Is Tropical hardly made a sound that couldn't be identified with another era, although they managed it in fairly diverting fashion. Despite the extremely simple melodies the set blared along well enough, with epic guitar & synth-driven sounds and inevitably crashing drums to the fore, but on principle I have to be a bit suspicious of a band whose best track seems to be inspired by Eye Level from The Simon Park Orchestra.

Marina vs Graphics: A philosophical analysis

I have seen Marina in person, and can confirm that apart from the make-up, the dental veneers and the various depilatory activities she is a fine example of a human, pretty much as nature intended.

So why, on the cover of her new album, does she seem to be made of felt?