Live Music Saves the Day (yet again)

On Monday last I made my way to Alliance Française de Madras after a rather trying day. The reason I braved the awfully crowded Chennai city buses during peak hour traffic time was a concert, as is usually the case with me. I'd seen a listing on AFM's events page for a very intriguing concert - Indo-Creole Project - sometime ago and had made a note of it on my calendar.

At that point, I was still on my sabbatical and thought I'd easily be able to make it. Things changed, however, and from completely jobless and vetti, I went to super busy a little too quickly. Still, I was determined to not miss this show, and boy, was I glad I made that choice!

I walked in a little later than the 7pm start time cursing the slow service at the worst fast food place ever (ChicKing on Nungambakkam High Road) that was to blame. I say walked in, but it was more like dashed in - climbed the four flights of stairs to the Edouard Michelin Auditorium two steps at a time - more or less completely out of breath only to find the show hadn't started yet after all. For about 10 minutes I was glad that they always seem to keep this auditorium at about 15 degrees for whatever reason. After that, I was glad that I remembered to bring my shawl with me. Wrapped up in said shawl, I waited for the concert to begin.

The father-son duo of René and Marc Lacaille took the stage first. While I don't have too much experience with Creole music, I have some rather strong ties to music from the Caribbean having spent some time during my formative years in the West Indies. My earliest memories of music are listening to my mom's mixtapes filled with Calypso music. So I was thrilled when they played some of those tunes. Their set was quite fun and upbeat like the music. They did explain that the happy music was often juxtaposed with melancholic lyrics, but my French isn't good enough to follow singing, so I only got the happy part of it.

Next up were Debashish and Subashish Battacharya (not related unless I'm mistaken) who took the place by storm with some jaw-droppingly good Indian music (Hindustani, I believe). This was my first time listening to the Indian slide guitar played live and I was instantly a fan. But, it was Subashish's percussion that really blew me away. The way he played both the tabla and the other percussion instrument he had on his lap (the Dhol?) was unbelievable! Rather than take my word for it, here, see for yourselves:

After this spell-binding set, the Lacailles joined the Battacharyas on stage for the final joint set. It was wonderful to hear and see how these two at-first-glance completely disparate forms of music and musicians came together cohesively. It was to repress the smiles, both inward and outward. Nothing as delightful as being at a show where the musicians themselves are having such an obviously grand time playing together!

By the time the concert ended all my annoyances of the day were long forgotten! Huge thank you to the musicians and to AFM for hosting this great event. I'm already a regular at all events you guys host, but now I'll make doubly sure to not miss any such shows in the future. :)

Oh, and here's the full playlist for anyone who's interested. Apologies for the poor quality video. On the bright side, the audio is pretty decent. So listen without watching and you'll get a sense of what it was like to be there.

P.S.: If anyone knows what the tune in that last video I linked above is, please let me know. It sounds awfully familiar, but I can't quite place it. Some folk tune perhaps?

So long, and thanks for all the notes

If there's one thing I'll most definitely miss when I move back home, it's the live music. I guess I'll find some even there, but I doubt it'll be anywhere near what I've had the chance to experience here in the U.S. The sheer variety and quantity astounds me when I think back. Even living in middle of nowhere America, I managed to average about 20-30 shows a year, from genres ranging the entire spectrum pretty much. And I've only ever been disappointed once or twice in all that time.

I really wish I could've squeezed in more shows these final few months. But sadly, winter slows things down and there's been a dearth of live music. I did make it a point to visit New Orleans last week though, as one final trip inside this country before I bid it adieu. Went to no less than 9 shows in 4 days, and 4 weekdays at that! So much music. Highlights were Mike Dillon going wild, Helen Gillet being reliably awesome, and the Preservation Hall band's jaw-dropping jazz.

I thought that was the last of it for me since I leave in 3 weeks. But I just found out, to my uncontrollable excitement (hence this post after the long hiatus), that one of the best bands I discovered last year is playing in Chicago mere days before I fly out from there! I refer to Good Willsmith, of course. As it turned out, there was much more awesome music left for me to uncover last year after that discovery. Yet, if I had to pick one defining record that captured my imagination and, in a sense was the theme for my 2014 musically, it would have to be The Honeymoon Workbook. It was the record that reignited my passion for music and got me drinking in all I could. I really wanted to try and see them last year, but couldn't make it happen (I even passed through the same city they were playing in, only a few hours too soon). So I'm extremely thrilled to have this chance to see them again. And they're not just playing on their own. It looks like there will be other artists from and/or related to their Hausu Mountain label. This is going to be so awesome. I can't fucking wait.

It will be the perfect note to say farewell for the present to a country that has amply fed my appetite for that very special experience of live music. So long, and thanks for all the notes.

Sort of unrelated (or only obliquely related, since I just noticed that the post I linked to above about GWS also has an eerily similar unrelated note) - AMT just started following me on twitter. Like just now, right before I started writing this post. How weird is that. Also, whoa! I mean, AMT is THE live music band, and here I am thinking about writing about live music, and BAM! I have a new follower and it's them! Freaky. o_O

Panacea

As usual I found out about an awesome show at very short notice. The description on the facebook event page was very intriguing/tempting indeed -

"An evening on the cusp of oblivion. Why-Trance and Virtual Horns."

"Tarot influenced Ritualistic Unprotected Saxscapes:
Devil card has been selected for tonight."

"Zoned out psychedelic keyboard and "super-strong primitive percussion" for the haunted tropics of Beguiling Isles film collage."

"AUROGRAPH" - See here for why the name was enough to get my attention in this instance

"ALL MUSICIANS WILL COMBINE FOR A FINAL FALLOUT."

-- only catch was that it was all happening tonight and I wasn't sure if I could handle another late night out. I'd already driven to the city three times in the last week, twice for music - two incredible shows which both deserve a few words in due course - and once to see The Shining in 35mm - one of the very few movies to have ever really fucked with my head. Even on the nights when I stayed in this week, I was up really late either spinning newly acquired records or reading old favourites. So I was quite beat. And yet I couldn't pass on this potentially awesome show either. I decided to try and take a quick nap after work and head over come what may.

As it turned out, I couldn't take my nap, but I didn't have to. My week/month/life suddenly opened up wide. I teetered on the edge for a while, but recovered my footing. One of the immediate positive effects of what at first came as a rude and awful shock was that I could stay up as late as I wanted tonight. I determined to go to the show and put everything else out of my mind for a bit.

Music, live music, has always been my go-to panacea. The most life-affirming experiences I've ever had were at concerts. Nothing can match a really great concert.

The show tonight was such a one.

I missed the first act, Quazar Bran - I really wished I hadn't when they joined in for the "final fallout" and I saw one of them playing a didgeridoo(!) and another playing an instrument I've never seen before (a flute shaped like a ghatam??). I bet their set was really good. I blame google maps for sending me around KC in circles.

I finally found the venue and walked in partway through Corum's set. "Zoned out pychedelic keyboard and super-strong primitive percussion" was right on the mark. There was also much incense and a flute(?) and some visuals projected behind him. I couldn't see much though because the smoke was blowing right into my eyes due to where I was standing. Not that I minded that too much. I end up closing my eyes involuntarily when the music is good anyway. And this sure was good. Could've listened to it for much much longer. I'd already been quite taken with the music on his bandcamp page and would have ordered it by now if not for..but nevermind that. Back to the show..

Next up was his co-conspirator from Million Brazilians - Suzanne Stone a.k.a White Gourd. She who drew the devil card (or Le Diable) and summoned him up with her eerie vocal loops and keys and sax. I particularly loved the note she ended on, with a loop that really stirred something up in me.

Aurograph went on last. Needless to say, they rocked. And grooved. And droned. And just tore shit up in general. My eyes were closed within 5 minutes and stayed that way until at some point I realized I was hearing more than one wind instrument, and it didn't seem like a loop either. I peeked to see what was going on, and lo and behold, the trio had turned into a quintet. Corum and Stone had joined them on stage and things got almost unbearably good. Nothing else existed outside of right there and right then.

They could've ended there, but they didn't. Oh no. They called up the Quazar Bran guys up as well and jammed on furiously. Eyes close again. Suddenly, I hear voices joining in the jam and they're coming from the audience direction, and then the stage, and back and forth.  Eyes open and what a sight. A lovely duet (is it still a duet if there are multiple voices harmonizing together on each end?) that goes on for some time that serves as the perfect end to a perfect evening.

I walk out grinning wide, ever so grateful to be alive.

Free State Festival

I wasn't even aware of this festival before now. Apparently it used to be a film only festival but this year they made it more of a general arts festival, but still with a focus on films. The only film I really knew about and was interested in was the Nick Cave documentary feature - 20,000 Days on Earth. I also saw Manhattan listed as one of the films to be screened and assumed it was the famous Woody Allen film (turned out to be a film set in Manhattan, KS - which is ironic as anyone who knows me irl would know). So with two films I really wanted to see, and some others that sounded promising, I took the plunge and got myself a movie pass well in advance. Then I promptly fell sick the week before the fest.

Still, I wasn't going to waste my pass. Plus being cooped up at home all day only made me more eager to get out and do something fun in the evenings (probably not the wisest decision). So I managed to catch quite a few of the films, though far fewer than I meant and wanted to. Here, then, is a round up of the ones I did watch:

Johnny Winter: Down & Dirty - About the (apparently legendary) eponymous blues musician. I'd never even heard about this man before and my familiarity with blues music is very minimal, but this documentary held my interest all the same. And it made me resolve to get more into blues. A resolution that faded some the day after, but still. Really enjoyed the free concert that he and his band played right after too. The man is 70 years old but still plays incredibly and sings too. I was glad I got the chance to see him live.

Every Everything: The Music, Life & Times of Grant Hart - This one's about Grant Hart of Hüsker Dü fame. I had at least heard of the band, if not about the man himself. Punk is again not at the top of my list of favourite genres, so I'd never actually listened to anything by Hüsker Dü. Very good docu with an interesting structure, and really cool idea for bookends for the scenes. In the Q&A after it came out that Grant Hart himself came up with the idea for the sequence they used for the latter. He was a fascinating character, and still makes good music, some of which he played with some local musicians later that night.

American Interior - This probably doesn't count as music documentary per se. It's maybe more a musical documentary, in that it's a documentary with music used like in a musical film. It's made by Gruff Rhys, the Super Furry Animals dude, and it's about one his Welsh ancestors who came to the US back in the 18th century looking for a Welsh-speaking Native American tribe. It starts out as ridiculous as it sounds, but then the tone shifts halfway through. The wry sense of humour remained throughout and yet it highlighted some serious issues as well. Really enjoyed this one, and highly recommend it.

The Story of Children and Film - Quite possibly my favourite part of the whole fest. A documentary about children in film, with clips from a wide range of movies from around the world. I don't even like children, but I really enjoyed this film. The narrator/maker is apparently a well-known critic from Scotland. I loved his exposition and choice of scenes/movies. Made me want to watch every single movie that was featured. I mean to hunt down a list of these and do just that.

Trap Street - A Chinese film based in contemporary China. Really good movie. Eye-opening even though we all theoretically know what it's like over there. But that aside, it's just a really good movie, with great performances, absorbing plot and an interesting visual style. The producer was there for a Q&A after the screening and he wasn't sure if there would be a wide release. But, if it does happen to play near you, I highly recommend checking it out.

I Put a Hit on You - A dark comedy about a woman who has to team up with her ex to stop the hit she accidentally put on him after he dumped her. It could've easily turned into a "quirky" film, but thankfully didn't. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Was originally planning on slipping off halfway through because I really didn't want to miss even a little bit of 20,000 days, the one movie I really wanted see (it was playing at a different venue and the movies at this venue were running behind time due to technical issues). But, it drew me in, and though I walked to the door before the final act, I ended up watching until the very last frame (standing by the door).

20,000 Days on Earth - Semi-fictional account of Nick Cave's 20,000th day on earth. I'm a fan of the man and his band, so I was really looking forward to this one. It did not disappoint. The makers are visual artists making their film debut, and it showed. Not the debut part, the visual artistry part. Very different from the other documentaries (actually, they were all quite different from each other - kudos to the film selection team), but just as interesting as all the rest. Quite the perfect end for a lovely festival. One that I'll be sure not to miss from here on out.

Other (non-film) highlights were - An incredible double bass performance in the art gallery by James Ilgenfritz; a rocking performance by the KC band Monta At Odds, with some really cool visual projections by Barry Anderson; a screening of Wizard of Oz synced with The Dark Side of the Moon and Kid A, which was a wee bit half-assed with some parts that went completely quiet, including about 5-10 minutes of the climax (I tried to think of some song/piece that would work well with that part and play it on my phone. Only song I could come up with was Alisha's Attic - I am, I feel - because when Dorothy clicks her heels together that part of the song "Clicked my heels together three times.." started playing in my head - but the stupid youtube app on my phone took too long to load and then insisted on playing an ad first and by then the movie ended already :( - Oh well)

I also sneaked off to KC Saturday evening for an amazing collab performance of Helen Gillet's music choreographed by Owen/Cox Dance Group called Memory Palace. But that deserves its own post, if/when I can get to it.

Here's a bit of the Monta At Odds performance

Shuffled Quartet, Aurograph and Cornelius Cardew

On Thursday or Friday last, I got an invite on facebook to an event that sounded really promising. The invite was from Shawn Hansen, whom I've seen play a few times before. He was also the one who organized the Mind Over Mirrors show that I (half-)wrote about sometime ago. So I knew it would be something good. Then I noticed Helen Gillet was one of the members of the New Orleans based Shuffled Quartet, who along with KC's Aurograph were going to interpret these "graphic scores". I had seen Helen play a most excellent improv set along with a couple of European musicians back in 2012. My interest was piqued even more now.

I still had no idea who Cornelius Cardew was, or what a graphic score was either, for that matter. Now this all happened when I was stuck at home sick, so I naturally went on a wiki/youtube binge. Read up all about this amazing avant-garde musician turned communist and his graphical scores. Watched scores of videos of his masterwork Treatise, all of which were unique and a lot of which were quite awesome. By the time I was done, I knew I was going to this show, cold and flu be damned!

I went, I saw, and I was conquered.

Rather than me going on about what I saw, why don't I shut up for once and let the music do the talking. Enjoy!

The first set of original works by Shuffled Quartet



Part of Shuffled Quartet and Aurograph's interpretation of Treatise (only part of because I ran out of space on my memory card, which I really should've thought to empty out before the show)



For the curious, the number of fingers they hold up after switching slides indicates the number of minutes that particular slide will be played for. I have a number of questions still about whether they decided this time per slide beforehand (I'm guessing not), if they had set rules among themselves on how the different graphical elements of the score would be interpreted (my guess is yes), if they rehearsed part or all of it before, and I could go on. Maybe someday I'll muster up the courage to actually go talk to musicians after a show and ask. Or maybe it's best to let the magic be.

Thank you to both bands, and the Artspace, and everyone who made this happen. And special thanks again to Shawn for the invite.

Push the Sky Away

I braved a rather nasty cold to go see Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds tonight. And boy did I make the right call. I'd seen them once before, about 7 years ago, in a smaller venue in a bigger city (which strikes me as quite unusual in retrospect). But somehow, despite the fact that I was way at the back of this fairly big music hall, I enjoyed this show much more. Even the constant distractions in the form people walking up and down the aisles and from their seats and back (I really wonder why people can't just sit in one place for an hour together) didn't take away too much from the awesomeness of this band. They really blew me away.

There were three definite highlights for me, aside from the really strong opening three tracks which I wasn't previously familiar with and consequently can't name until I find the setlist. But coming back to the highlights, the first was naturally my all-time favourite song of theirs - From Her To Eternity - the song that first made me take notice of them. That it is featured in one my all-time favourite films - Wings of Desire - helps, of course, but the song itself is so powerful that I would've been drawn to it regardless. I positively squealed out loud tonight when Nick Cave began it with the classic "I want to tell you about a girl". No one else seemed to know or care for it much, but I jumped up from my seat and spent the whole song on my feet, swaying along with Nick. The second time I was compelled to get back on my feet was when they started playing Stagger Lee. This is a song that I only very recently got acquainted with thanks to a live version from their last tour on youtube. I was really hoping they'd play it and was so glad they did. Another incredibly powerful song and a tour de force performance from the whole band. That bassline is to die for. Also, Nick Cave's baritone works so beautifully in it, I must say.

The final song that really struck a chord with me tonight is the one I really wanted this post to be about (hence the title, which I wrote down first) - Push the Sky Away. They finished their set and the show, not counting the encore, with this song. And I really don't want to count the encore either because this was the perfect note to end on. It's the title song, and the closing track, from their latest album that came out last year. I hadn't listened to it before. I was listening to the album on my drive over, but reached the venue before I got to it. The lyrics gave it away so I knew what to look for right as soon as I got back to my car. I've listened to it over and over again since then. I don't know if I can describe what it means to me. The lyrics speak to me on a very personal level. And the music is such a good match for those words in how subdued and yet insistent it is.

Also, by a strange coincidence, it fits in with my post from yesterday. This song so eloquently says everything I struggled to express there. And it does so with such exquisite economy of words and tones, too.

This is what I live for. For nights like this. For discovering songs like this. Thank you Nick Cave. Thank you Bad Seeds.



I was originally going to link this recorded version of the song because it has the lyrics in the video. But I really love the live versions of this song so much more. They have an extra something. Immediacy perhaps. I also think I prefer the male backing vocals. And whatever instrument it is that Warren Ellis plays (if anyone knows what it is, do leave me a note below) sounds so much more fuller live.

Where did my Saturday go?

And I wasn't even sleeping all day. Oh well. Here's some cool music by a band playing at the Ende Tymes festival in NY this weekend. A festival I really wish I was attending. Maybe next year.

A very belated show report

I've been to some really great live shows these past 4 weeks or so. And I keep meaning to write about them but haven't been able to get around to it. I shall remedy this somewhat now. I scribbled part of the following on the back of a grocery store receipt while waiting for A Minor Forest to take the stage at one of the aforementioned awesome shows. I meant to copy it over and finish writing it that night (week before last?) but never got around to it.

Mind Over Mirrors, Shawn E. Hansen and ISAM

I found out about this show a couple of days before it was set to happen. It was at the same place as that Midday Veil/Expo '70 show I stumbled upon sometime ago. This place as I later found out happens to be where Justin Wright of Expo '70 lives, which explains how they're able to set up shows there at such short notice. It also explains why these shows are invariably really really good.

So anyway, once again I got there too early, even though I had taken the precaution this time of double-checking beforehand about when exactly the show would start. I was told in response to my enquiry on facebook that the music would start shortly after 8:30pm, and so I rushed over straight from work without even stopping to get dinner. I still only made it around 8:40, but fortunately, they hadn't started playing. I sat myself down in a corner of the room and waited. And waited, getting crankier by the minute.

Finally, just after I had broken down and posted a snarky tweet (which I later deleted), the first person (ISAM) began playing. This was an evening of 3 solo acts, you see. I quite enjoyed the first set once I got off the bench, whose shaking with every move of my neighbour was distracting me a tad too much, and sat myself down on the floor.

Next up was Mind Over Mirrors. From the first drone of his harmonium, I was hooked. This harmonium was nothing like the ones I was used to seeing my music teachers playing back in the day during my short stint at learning Carnatic music. Instead of having the bellows in front of the keys, this guy had a set up where the bellows were by his foot like pedals in a piano. See pics below..

                               To be continued... 

Warning: Acerbic Rant Ahead

I haven't posted in a while for a combination of reasons. Primarily because I haven't had the time. But also because I wasn't feeling like writing. Been in a curiously dissatisfied frame of mind. Made a bit of a bad social blunder that I think I was led on to because of impatience. Either way it made me feel terribly ashamed of myself and resolve to not bother trying to reach out to humans again. Until the next time anyway.

So the reason I didn't have time was because I went to a music fest. It was a bit of a let down tbh. The highlights were seeing Wolf Eyes, Shabazz Palaces and Gary Numan. The first two I was especially looking forward to, and while they did not disappoint in themselves, the venue left something to be desired. The sound wasn't the best, and a patio in the cold wasn't the ideal place on some rather chilly nights.

The Shabazz Palaces show was almost ruined by a couple of really annoying drunk chicks who drove me up the wall. These idiots somehow managed to get spots right at the front and instead of enjoying the music spent almost the entire time either chattering loudly and taking selfies or taking a video of the performance on their phone with the flash on the entire time. I came -this- close to grabbing their phones and smashing them on the ground. It was so very distracting. They had some nice lights and stuff set up on stage but all we got to see for a large chunk was the infuriating white light from their phones. Just thinking about it makes me want to @&*$^*&!#^^&!#%

I'm adding drunk self-absorbed people more interested in themselves than the show ruining it for everyone else to my list of most FSSR (Fist Shaking Saber Rattling) inducing things ever. It may even surpass people who cruise at or below the speed limit on the passing lane and make it to the top of the list. These are not "pet peeves", mind you. These are the things that make me shudder with extreme repulsion when new-agey people talk about how we're all one mind or whatever. I do not want to have anything to do with inconsiderate jerks like these on any level.

These two women were extreme cases but I came across many such during the course of this music fest. Why oh why do people go to a concert and spend their time there talking, nay yelling loudly over the music, to each other? Couldn't they go elsewhere where they can talk without being disturbed by music and without paying the price of admission? Sigh.

Earth and Expo '70

Saw this awesome double bill tonight. I've seen both bands before multiple times so I knew what to expect. And neither of them disappointed.

I missed a bit of Expo '70 since the movie I was at earlier in the evening (the widely acclaimed Queen which I will write about tomorrow) ran a little later than I expected. I think the song I missed half of was the promised new one too. But no sweat, I'll be setting them again twice later in the month.

Earth was just what I need to soothe my ruffled feathers. Ruffled because I got stood up. Sort of. This dude I'm friends with on last.fm said he'd look out for me and say hi. We go to a lot of the same shows but have never actually met up. His taste in music is so close to my own that I actually use his upcoming shows list to pick the ones I want to go to. Would've been nice to actually have a friend irl with similar interests. Oh well.

But going back to the show itself, Earth, as I said, was the perfect music to make peace with the world. They alternates between tracks from their upcoming album and older material. The new stuff held up great, so I'm liking forward to that album which comes out in July apparently.

I get a day of tomorrow (not from work sadly) and then it's back to plenty of live music again on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at a music fest. I should get some rest now. Early and busy day awaits tomorrow. Think I'll play my favorite Earth album to sleep to. Here's a song from said album:

Happy Birthday, Kronos Quartet!

I've gone on about them elsewhere but they deserve a post all to themselves, especially on their 40th birthday. Despite being someone who is not particularly knowledgeable or even uniformly appreciative of (western) classical music, I'm still strangely fond of Kronos Quartet. I think this has a lot to do with their very varied repertoire and collaborations with musicians from every imaginable genre and country pretty much.

I originally wrote a couple of paragraphs listing all the different works they've performed and tried to link one of each kind, but that's a hopelessly colossal task. So I'm going to content myself with writing about their live performance today to celebrate their fortieth - Kronos at 40 at the Greenespace in NY. As it happens, their set was well chosen to showcase their versatility, so it will serve my original aim perfectly.

The first piece they performed was written by Nicole Lizée specifically for Kronos Quartet. Death to Kosmische was actually more like a celebration of Kosmische Musik. Or maybe it was named thus in the sense that people say "they killed it". Yeah, that must be it, because Kronos did just that. The facility with which they switched back and forth between their regular string instruments and some really fantastic looking instruments was a joy to behold. But the greater joy was in listening to the brilliant sounds they created with all of these. I really really need to look up the composer to whom an equal share of praise is definitely due. When the piece ended, I couldn't help breaking out into rapturous applause even though I was sitting at home watching the video stream and knew they couldn't hear me. Sometimes (or is it most times?) applause isn't about showing appreciation so much as an involuntary response to a moving experience. Much like tears - which almost fell by the end of today's performance. But more on that in due course.

After that impossible to top opening piece, they played an arrangement of an old blues song by Geeshie Wiley called Last Kind Words. While this was really good, it didn't quite measure up Death to Kosmische for me. Admittedly, part of the reason for this is that Krautrock/Kosmische Musik is a top favourite genre of mine. But I think more critically this piece suffered from the lack of vocals. What's a blues song without the singing, eh? I can imagine how good this song would be with the right vocals and lyrics (the host recited a few of the latter and they were quite promising), and I mean to look up the original soon.

The third piece was also one that wasn't written specifically for Kronos, but they nailed this one. It was a special arrangement of a Cuban song - Margarita Lecuona's Tabú. I loved it. Hank Dutt was bang on in his introduction when he called it a very sexy, seductive song that it would be hard not to move to.

The final work was specially commissioned by Kronos Quartet as part of their Under 30 Project. In her introduction, the composer Mary Kouyoumdjian said that her piece was influenced by Steve Reich's Different Trains - one of my very favourite compositions ever. Unfortunately, I missed the first minute or so of Bombs of Beirut thanks to a bit of a snag in the live stream and/or my wireless network. When the video came back, my brain immediately recognized the Reich influence, but it took me some time to truly get into the piece and feel it. By the time the part where Kronos's playing and the voices narrating faded away to be replaced by the sound of the bombings (actual field recordings from the Lebanese civil war) came on though, everything except the music and the atmosphere it created had faded away as well. The last movement/section was extremely moving and I simply had to close my eyes and listen with all my being. When the piece ended, it left me in a completely different place from when I began listening to it. This time there was no bursting into applause. Just a sense of awe and also of emptiness.

After giving myself some time to recover, my first impulse was to seek out another song which was brought to my mind by this one. Very different in style, but very similar in theme - Vidai Kodu Engal Naade from Kannathil Muthamittaal. It was hard not to feel a deep sense of frustration and almost hopelessness after listening to this song right after the other one. Hard to keep back the thoughts about how stupid and pointless war is and why on earth stupid humans keep fighting each other time after time, all over the goddamned world. But no, I won't go there again. I'll leave you instead with these videos from today's performance (skip to 11:30 in the first video if you want to get right to the show):





My heartfelt thanks once again to Kronos Quartet, The Greene Space, Q2 music, and every single other person behind this amazing show and its live webcast!

Random Live Music Day

I found out about this show (Expo 70 + Midday Veil + Airport) just an hour before it was supposed to begin in a venue some 40 miles away. It was a show I really wanted to see. Only catch was I didn't have the exact address of the place. I had a vague memory of catching another show there a few years ago, featuring Expo 70 again, actually. All I remembered was that it was an art studio type place in an out-of-the-way part of the city where some of the more experimental local bands and occasionally some out of towners played, usually for free or for a small donation. I posted on the Midday Veil fb page asking for the address without much hope of an answer that late. But, lo and behold, they answered.

So I drove over thinking I was an hour late and hoping I wouldn't miss either Expo 70 or Midday Veil. I get there only to find no one but the bands inside and about 4 people hanging outside the studio. It was too cold to stay out, so I went in, said an awkward hello, sat down and pulled out my phone. Expo 70 who went first started playing a solid hour or more after I got there. Smartphones are such a blessing in circumstances like this, although I did wish I had the guts to join in in their conversation about krautrock and other cool musics. Especially when I overheard them talking about Can and Faust. Sigh.

Anyway it was a great show and a perfect way to start the week. Very glad I decided to go even though I was feeling a bit under the weather. I'll write up a more detailed review tomorrow maybe. I just got back home and it's already past 2 (I wrote up part of this post in between acts). Must hit the sack soon 'cause I have to make it to work early tomorrow so I can get out of work early as well.  Marx brothers month continues tomorrow with A Night At The Opera. Whee.

Oh, also, the percussionist from Midday Veil (dude played the bongos and a triangle(!) among other things) thanked me for stopping by on my way out. It was a last minute plan to have the show apparently, and only a handful of people turned up overall, and I was the only one aside from the band folks who stayed till the very end. It was very nice of him, but I'm pretty sure I made a fool of myself. Still, :)

And since I'm in such a good mood. Here have a song by one of my all-time favourite bands, a live version even:

Bang On A Can's 2014 People's Commissioning Fund Concert

I caught the live stream of Bang on a Can's People's Commissioning Fund concert yesterday (you can find the full audio here) and it made me so so happy. Bang on a Can is a contemporary classic music outfit based in NY. Every year they do this concert funded by, well, the people where they commission works from upcoming and established composers to be performed by the Bang on a Can All-Stars ensemble. They also do other festivals and events throughout the year - one of which, the marathon concert, is one I've long longed to go to but it always either happens when I'm least able to fly to NY or I find out about it just after it's over.

Yesterday's PCF concert started out with an avant-garde piece called Lick which was apparently composed by one of the co-founders of Bang on a Can, Julia Wolfe, 20 years ago! I missed the intro and had no idea that the piece was that old. It was quite radical and rad. A joyfully cacophonous way to start the concert, I must say.

After that energetic start, they premiered the three pieces commissioned for this year, the first of which completely blew me away. It was Alvin Lucier's Firewood. Now I had never heard of this man before. The write up called him an electronic music pioneer. He spoke about the piece before the played it and he sounded very old. That's about the sum total of what I caught since my mind was wandering. The one thing he said that caught my attention was how he didn't use electronics unless he had to (none was used for Firewood). The incongruity of that struck me since he was billed as an electronic pioneer.

I paid more attention when I listened to his introduction speech again just now (I'm relistening to the whole show as I write this), and only some of it made sense to my musically ignorant brain. The gist of it is that the piece was inspired by the tracks left by insects as they crawled on firewood. He split the All-Stars into two trios that play his score in such a way that one trio follows the pattern of the tracks and the other plays tones that cause interferences that produce beats.

All this I know now. All I knew yesterday was this was a piece of music that really moved me. It was completely mesmerising. One of those rare moments that make you really glad to be alive. My only regret is not getting to experience it live in that hall. It starts just after the 16 minute mark in the audio stream. Start a few minutes earlier if you want to hear the intro. Headphones are essential for the full effect. I don't have my headphone here with me now and it really takes away from the experience when ambient noises interfere with the music.

The second piece they premiered was The Brief and Neverending Blur by Arcade Fire's Richard Reed Parry. I didn't really know Parry or his work, in or out of Arcade Fire, aside from the score of Her (although I think it was another band member who co-composed that). I found this piece quite underwhelming, but I think it suffered because it followed Lucier's piece. When I listened to it again today, with an adequate break in between the two pieces, I liked it more. Still it seemed to fall just short of being great.

The final premiere was Daniel Wohl's Holographic. This piece brought back the magic, the joy. A very fun and delightful electroacoustic work. It is hard not to smile when listening to it. I'm definitely looking up more of this guy's work. Quite the find.

And speaking of finds, Alvin Lucier is obviously the biggest discovery for me from this show. The best musical/artistic find in quite some time. I've looked him up since then and I'm quite keen on listening to every single piece he's ever created. I did listen to his most famous work, I am sitting in a room, earlier today. It is quite something indeed. The concept is brilliant, but what's amazing is how well it stands as an engaging piece of music in its own right. I really want to try it out in different rooms to see what I can come up with.

I know this post is already overlong and I should probably end here, but I really want to share this brilliant review of I am sitting in a room by Brian Olewnick. It says everything I can't. Read, and then listen.

Acid Mothers Temple

Acid Mothers Temple, that non-stop touring bunch of psychedelic gurus, announced the dates for their 2014 North American Tour today. These guys tour so much that one would think it would cut into their productivity. But it does not. Far from it, actually. They're one of the most prolific bands around. Discogs lists 76 releases from their Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO collective alone (this is the lineup that's touring this year) and even that is probably not a complete list. They also have about 10 other collectives - different incarnations of the band with varying lineups and styles of music - that have their own sets of releases.

I'm going to stick with The Melting Paraiso UFO here because that's the AMT I'm most familiar with. Their sound can be best described as psychedelic space-rock with heavy world music influences, sometimes veering into krautrock, free-jazz, and drone. With tracks that frequently stretch out into wild jams that are over 20, 30, 40 minutes long (at least one version of Pink Lady Lemonade crosses the one hour mark), this is music that is not for the casual listener. It requires one to surrender to it and to let it take you on a ride. That may sound like a lot, but trust me it's worth it. In one word, it is

TRIPPY

I am listening to In O To ∞, their 2010 follow up to their cover of Terry Riley's In C,  for the first time as I write this and I must say I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. And while I may not be half agony, half hope like that Austen hero, and saying this record pierces my soul might seem a bit much, it is undeniably a trip and a half that demands complete attention. So -break-

Yeah, that was a most excellent album and I am wondering why it took me so long to get around to it. Quite the mix of musical styles there. I'll have to give it many more listens before I can attempt to describe it. I will say though that it ended on a surprisingly Boredoms-like note (another extraordinary Japanese band).

But stepping back in time a bit, let me tell you about an AMT album that I have more experience with - La Novia. Listening to La Novia, which is considered by many to be their definitive record, is quite a trip. It starts out as a Occitanian folk tune (go on, look it up), a meditative chant-like sing-song that briefly turns into a pastoral tune before switching to krautrock mode. But before one knows what hit one, it shapeshifts into a heady psychedelic rock beast that turns the brain into putty and then makes the most wondrous shapes out of it, briefly switching back to the original folk tune only to go crazy all over again. After nearly 40 glorious minutes, it quietly slips into soft acoustic strumming and fades away. And that's just the title track. It is followed by two more (shorter) tracks, which I'll leave you to discover for yourself.

All told though, AMT, as good as they are on record, are primarily a live band. One of the best live bands on this planet in my estimation, and you should take my word for it because I've seen more than my fair share of live shows. Be it Kawabata Makoto's masterful shredding and feedback swirling (the man is deemed a guitar god ffs) or Tsuyama Atsushi's hilarious banter which is by no means second to his bass playing (just listen to any live version of Pink Lady Lemonade where the guitar and bass essentially change roles), this is a band to be experienced live more than any other. Just remember to take ear plugs.

Un Pixie Andalou

Thinking about seeing the Pixies tomorrow and it reminded me of the last time I saw them live. It was their Dolittle 20th anniversary tour and they played that classic album in its entirety. But before beginning their set, they screened Un Chien Andalou, the Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí surrealist short film. I had heard of the film before but had never actually seen it. It was quite a trip. Like watching a dream, except none of my dreams are quite so outré. The image that stuck with me the most is the iconic scene where an eyeball being sliced is intercut with a cloud passing across the moon.

At the end of the film, the Pixies started playing tracks from Dolittle but not in the album order. Debaser, the opening track from Dolittle whose lyrics are based on Un Chien Andalou, came somewhere in the middle that night. Here it is now in a fan video edited with scenes from the film itself:



Btw, the new Pixies EPs are pretty good. Not groundbreaking but decent. I prefer EP1 over EP2. Can't say how they compare to old Pixies though since I've actually not listened to them much aside from Dolittle. Only went to see them last time because Fuck Buttons were opening the show.

The Floozies

So funk won the day and I went and saw The Floozies on Saturday night. The opening acts were decent and godawful, respectively. Seriously, the second opener who was from Detroit made me want to tear my ears out. I would have run out for the duration of his set if it weren't bloody cold outside. As it was, I betook myself to furthest corner from the stage and tried to occupy myself with reading random stuff on my phone while my innards were getting pounded by the pointlessly heavy bass.

However, The Floozies made up for it big time with a really rocking show. They're two brothers, a drummer and a producer/guitarist/frontman, who play some really cool retro sounding but still original electro-funk that's a whole lot of fun, especially live. They also brought in a guest saxophonist who I think should become a part of the band because he took the music to another level. The show was sold-out and I didn't see a single person who wasn't at least moving around a little if not straight out shaking it. It was a little disappointing to see the lack of appreciation for the drummer and the saxophonist in the second half of the set, when the music was less danceable than in the beginning. I personally enjoyed this part a lot and found it much more interesting. Not that dancing to the funkiness wasn't fun, but I like a little depth to my music. Overall, a very enjoyable show and I would definitely go see them again if I get the chance. No regrets on my choice for the evening.

Here's one of the best tracks from their newest album, which incidentally is available for free download here:

Choices Choices

After a loooong break from live music - over 8 months which is an eternity to a live music junkie like me - it's finally time to get back on the wagon, starting with this weekend. But, I'm faced with a somewhat hard decision on which of two shows to go to tomorrow night.

On the one hand, there's a local electro-funk duo that I'd never heard of before today but whose show seems like an awful lot of fun. On the other, there's a talented lo-fi shoegaze band from England whom I'm equally unfamiliar with but people whose taste I sort of respect seem to listen to a lot.

I listened to and watched some youtube videos of both and while they're both pretty good, right now I'm leaning towards the former simply because I want to go out and dance my ass off. But then again, they're a local band and although they seem to be on the cusp of becoming big, chances are I'll get to see them live again by and by. Same can't be said for the other band who might probably never come this way again.

This conundrum would have never been if I hadn't completely forgotten about band B's show being tomorrow night. Band A actually played tonight as well but I passed on it because it was too cold to go out. To think I could've easily had my cake and eaten it too. Argh.

Exhibit A:


Exhibit B:



I'll report back tomorrow on which show I finally chose. Should be a good time either way.