Category: Music

Sleigh Bells at LePoisson Rouge

Alexis of Sleigh Bells at Le Poisson Rouge, 9.30.09
Alexis of Sleigh Bells

Sundelles, LPR, 9.30.09
Sundelles

It’s really hard to take good concert photos with a crappy camera (duh) but I tried. Last night I saw Sleigh Bells, the Sundelles, and Orphan at Le Poisson Rouge based on a tipoff from This Recording. I’d seen Orphan open for Nebula at the Knitting Factory around a year ago so I was curious to see if they’ve evolved…. more abrasive than ever if that’s your thing. The drummer, Speck Brown, is hypnotic while the bass dude is still turning it up way past 11. The Sundelles are pleasant indie rock while Sleigh Bells were completely amazing. A band to watch out for!

Photos from the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival

I’ll add more to this post tomorrow. Sizing and uploading all these pictures took a while. Click on a thumbnail to see full-size.

Mary Poppins Remixed

The Mary Poppins soundtrack is one of my earliest musical memories. Back in the 80s, I laid out my vision for a sampled 60s world of dance music but my partners wouldn’t buy it so it’s gratifying to see that the musical on Broadway etc. has made it happen. My parents and relatives took me to a lot of movies as a kid. Were it that Julie Andrews got as much recognition as MJ, I would be a less cynical person.

Lights and Ponys

just

I would rather look at a light than listen to someone turn one syllable into 31 notes– no offense to Ella Fitzgerald or Sezen Aksu or hundreds of other singers. If you’re just showing off, it shows. I was rolling through old photos, listening to NPR, and they had the vocalists on that did the Youtube video of “In the Air Tonight” on the train. They still sound like a one-trick pony. New category for my blog: running NPR crit.

Las Palmas

Palm trees at the World Financial Center Winter Garden

I had a great time downtown at the Bang on a Can Marathon on Sunday with a caveat. Like some people, my problem with some new music is that it becomes a big bore and letdown if it takes itself too seriously. I’m not talking about the abandonment of popular music structure which some people can’t get around. Having mostly fallen in love with music through pop and rock, very serious performances that obviously take a lot of training and work to achieve fall flat if the performers don’t make it look effortless and joyful. The fun disappears and where’s the fun in that? Maybe I’ll write more about this soon.

Bang on Cans, Pots, and Pans

Here’s where I encourage all new music enthusiasts to come down to the World Financial Center tomorrow, May 31st, for the Bang on a Can marathon. Among the opening acts will be Dither shown below playing at the New Music Bakesale and Andy Akiho who I saw perform at the beginning of the month at the Manhattan School of Music. I thought I had shots of Terry Riley performing with the Bang on a Can Allstars but I can’t find them. Here’s a handy YouTube library of many of the acts performing.

Dither Quartet

R. Stevie Moore
This is R. Stevie Moore performing in Brooklyn.
He won’t be performing at the marathon but he should be.

Still Life, Jia Zhangke
And finally, a still life from the movie, Still Life by Jia Zhangke — could be my brain on new music.