Music Snobbery

Editors Acoustic Performance @ Fader/Cornerstone Offices

This is how I live my rock 'n' roll lifestyles. On my precious day off, I interviewed Lady Sovereign at 3:30pm, made my way into NYC to see the Editors perform at their label's offices, retrieve car, make it over to Mercury Lounge to watch Midlake and Cold War Kids, head over to Editors after party and close out the place at 4am. Oh yeah, this is how I roll.

Tom and Chris performed acoustic versions of "All Sparks," "Bullets" and an unrecorded track that should appear on a future album, "Bones." The crew arrived a little late, so we were made to suffer by drinking free beer, eating free wood oven pizza and chatting with music industry types. The torture that they but us NYC bloggers threw. We need to unionize.

When Tom first walked in, it was a little shocking to see him with hair grown out, a little more muscular and sporting a deep tan. A found out later from him that he went to Ibiza for four days on a little holiday. The man deserves it -- the band has been touring and promoting The Back Room all over the world for a year now. I guess the tan is what you get when you beat out James Blunt, Franz Ferdinand and Belle & Sebastian for a Mercury Prize nomination.

I did not go to their Irving Plaza show, this being my fifth time seeing them in some form, I'm burnt out as you'll see in my other links on Editors below.

Here's a video of them doing "All Sparks" and a little bit of "Bones."

At the after-party, got to catch up with Tom, Chris and Russell. I found it funny when I see Chris at the bar, I say, "Hi, Chris" and he says, "Hey, Chris" like it was routine. We both agreed that to put your money on Richard Hawley, Guillemots or Arctic Monkeys to win the Mercury Prize. He's with Guillemots, I'm down with Hawley. Also at the after-party was the guys from *stellastarr and We Are Scientists.

Previously:

• Interview with Chris
• Editors @ Trocadero in Philadelphia
• Editors @ Webster Hall
• Editors @ Mercury Lounge
• Editors @ Le Zenith in Paris

The Long Blondes @ Knitting Factory

After a lot of trial and error trying to see the Long Blondes last year, l finally got to see the Sheffield crew last night for their return trip to the States. They delivered a solid set. I came away thinking that it was impeccable dance rock music. I also thought to myself, "That Kate Jackson is one fine looking woman." Oh come on, every guy (and even girl) there was thinking the same thing. She was wearing a low cut dress and when she would bend over for a drink ... it was good times. Sorry, it had to be put out there.

Anyway, the music is right up my alley. It's bass heavy, with garage rock guitars and girl-group vocals. On CD, they come off as a defiantly sexual group with a lot of panache. Live, the music is highly flirty and majorly fun. It wasn't what I was expecting live. It was the same idea I had when I first saw Art Brut at Maxwell's. I figured the band would have some sort of stern facade -- as in they perform in some sort of character. It's not the case with Art Brut or the Long Blondes, they have a good time on stage. Lead singer Kate is part seductress, part good time party good. She would shake her hips and wink at the crowd in a form fitting dress.

The frustrating thing about the Long Blondes is they have yet to put out an album. Right now, they have a bunch of singles. Their major one, "Weekend Without Makeup," is one you can hang your hat on. It was produced by Steve Mackey (Pulp, MIA) and put out by then geniuses of Rough Trade. It defines their sound, a driving baseline, high-pitched guitars and a fantastic vocal treatment. "There are wants, and there are needs. But they are two very different things." They also played "Appropriation," "Giddy Stratosphere," "Lust in the Movies," "Once and Never Again" and "Separated by Motorways". They have all the elements to make one kick-ass British import. Get to it already.

At the end, when everyone was cheering for an encore for like 5 minutes, I looked from where I was in the balcony and I saw Kate and the band. It was pretty funny how people were still cheering while the band is ready for a post-show drink. Encores need to be put to a halt by now. I call them the pre-planned encores.

So it would do you good to check out the ladies and lads from the U.K. It will make you a cooler person.

Keane to Play Carnegie Hall: UPDATE

Coldplay has never played Carnegie Hall.

SEPTEMBER 13th - New York, Carnegie Hall. On general sale 7/28, 11am. No presale. Tix probably will be available though ticketbastard.com. Razorlight will open up.

UPDATE: Okay, I got Row AA, which 3rd from the back in Parquet seating area. That only took 20 minutes to get through their ticketing system. Getting a sandwich at the Carnegie Deli is faster. Let me know how you did.

Mew @ Hiro Ballroom: Celebrating Christmas in July

My blogger services were requested tonight for the proper U.S. debut of the hottest import out of Denmark since Lars Von Trier. Mew on paper is a three piece outfit, but live this prog rock juggernaut produce who this gloriously ridiculous sound of big guitar chords, long synth tones and high-pitched vocals. Think Sigur Ros meets Yes. They were amazing in how they created sonic soundscapes that felt larger than life. One must wonder why it took so long to get some props here in the states after being a major band overseas.

The show started with ten minutes of ambient chords to get everyone in mood for their spacey sounds, and also to tease people until they went on. The ambient music made me feel like I was on a tour in a aquarium, "On the left you'll see the beautiful, yet deadly jaguar shark." When the band eventually came with a large bang on the drum, it was a huge wake-up call.

The trio plus two touring musicians played in front of projections of early computer animation, but mostly odd creatures like a cat wearing a British solider outfit and playing the violent and some strange half fish, half hand puppet creature. For their more down-tempo songs off their U.S. debut album, And The Glass Handed Kites (stream it here) like "She Came From Christmas," the art projection was more simple.

In all, I came for the rock, and the band made you feel like you were a part of something bigger than the room could hold. Songs like "The Circuitry of Wolves" or "The Zookeeper's Boy" were stunningly powerful tracks played live. Jonas Bjerre has this other-worldly voice that sounds like a huge chorus, but it's just him with an vocal effect. He's also responsible for the animation and band's art work. Watching him, he seemed like a shy dude, often standing still, with his eyes closed and singing with a feather's touch.

The good news is that they'll probably be coming to your town either as an opening act for Bloc Party or in some way, shape or form in the future. While you might just categorize them as prog rockers, they feel like they are achieving something more genre defying, which makes it more appealing.

Bill of Sound Bites had night vision goggles going on. I think the lead singer looks like a young Parker Stevenson.

More Phoenix Tour Dates for September

The guitarist, Christian, told me last month that they were playing Webster Hall. I thought I was going nuts when they announced they were playing Bowery again. So put your Camel smokes away, they're coming back.

9/08- Mod Club, TORONTO
9/09- V Festial, TORONTO
9/10- Club Soda, MONTREAL
9/12- Webster Hall, NEW YORK
9/14- Nafinsa, MEXICO CITY
9/15- Gypsy Tea Room, DALLAS
9/16- Austin City Limits, AUSTIN
9/18- Martini Ranch PHOENIX
9/19- Belly Up, SAN DIEGO
9/21- Wiltern, LOS ANGELES
9/23- *TO BE CONFIRMED*, SAN FRANCISCO
9/25- Wonder Ballroom PORTLAND
9/26- Richard's on Richard's, VANCOUVER
9/27- Crocodile Cafe, SEATTLE

Top 5 Moments in Luna's Tell Me Do You Miss Me

My quick Luna story first before I get to the list -- I saw Luna twice back in 2003 during a pivotal moment in my Music Snobbery upbringing. Within a 10-day period, I saw Blur three times (New York, Philly, D.C.), Bruce Springsteen twice (Giants Stadium) and Luna twice (Maxwell's). This adventure gave me the sea legs to endure multiple shows in a short time span.

Anyway, the first night, a Friday, the Mendoza Lina opened up and I was about ready to collapse from lack of sleep, but at point I had never seen Luna. I propped myself against a post and manage to stay alert the whole show. These are the days before Red Bull and Sparks. The second night, (The Hong Kong opened) with a good day of rest on me, I caught a perfect set from the gang. I went up to each of the band members after the show to get my CD signed and had great conversations with them, except for the quiet one, drummer Lee Wall. With Dean Wareham, I asked him about an obscure Noah Baumbach film called Highball, which Dean appeared a wrote a funny song called, "Everybody Felix." With Britta, I resisted the urge to ask her about the JEM cartoon that she did the singing on and told her how much certain songs mean to me. The best was Sean Eden, who I ended up having drinks with and talking about Springsteen. He had this elaborate story about how he got floor seats through Luna's manager, VIP parking, but was disappointed that he didn't get backstage passes. It was my first in-depth talk I had with a musician who was in a band I admired.

Of course, I miss Luna, but I also want my bands to make music when they want and also be happy making new music on their terms. What you'll see in this documentary is that they had fun, have a great catalog of music and they decided to leave while they still like each other.

5. The beginning shots where you see Britta Phillips in bra and panties, getting dressed for her final performance in Luna. Hey Dean, good score, man! The whole sequences sets up the film perfectly with "Fuzzy Wuzzy" playing throughout. Then, it leads into their final performance at the Bowery Ballroom. I still lament the fact that I couldn't go, I had to work that night.

4. Sean tells a story about his mysterious rash. I won't spoil the story, but it's sounds like a joke I would pull. He also relays a funny story about a girl who he was suppose to meet in Austin.

3. Sean picks up a girl in Barcelona, then wanders the streets. The city just looks so beautiful and peaceful, with these outdoor cafes in the alleys -- no car or pedestrian traffic to bother you. Barcelona just shot up on my list of cities to visit.

2. Luna covers "Rock You Baby" -- Dean kind of goofs around with the vocals a bit, but it shows how Luna was not always a serious band. There's also some shots of Sean, Dean and Britta dancing around in their hotel rooms. BTW, there's a digital download album from them called Lunafied you can sample that has a good selection of cover songs.

1. The closing credits set to "23 Minutes in Brussels." There are some iconic shots of the band bathed in stage light that it's beautifully done. It's also my favorite song from them. The live version in killer. It kind of perfectly captures the Luna sound.

Track by Track: The Knife's Silent Shout, Feist's Open Season and Dashboard Confessional's Dusk and Summer

People like to bring up the fact to me that if I love music so much, why don't I follow a career in the business like work for a label or be a rock critic. The easy answer is that labels pay shit and I would be the worst rock critic in known creation because I would hate 9 out of 10 albums that would come across my desk.

I've been spending my commuting time to and from New York catching up on the promos I get and I would shoot myself if I hate to sit and analyze every CDs. It reminds me of a legendary story about Stanley Kubrick -- he would spend months reading piles and piles of novels that could be made into movies. If he didn't like them or got bored, he'd supposedly throw them against the wall. That's what I feel like doing sometimes.

Anyway, so I don't necessarily review CDs or even gigs I go to, I just write how I feel about them. With that, here are 3 new releases -- one I really like (The Knife), one that's decent (Feist) and another that's crap (Dashboard) -- that I'll go through track by track.

Much has been made of the emergence of Sweden's The Knife, mostly due to Jose Gonzalez's cover of "Heartbeats". They make gloriously strange synth-based dance music that transports you to a futuristic world -- a vision of what we thought the future of music would be in the early 1980s. I stumbled upon the Knife through my appreciation of Royksopp, who are from the same region. Lead singer Karin Dreijer also did do vocals on "What Else is There?" on their last album. In any event, The Knife's Silent Shout gets a proper U.S. release.

Here's what I think

• Silent Shout - Somehow, this song reminds me of PBS science specials from the 80s, like NOVA. Then the vocals kick in and it makes the song creepy but intriguing.
• Neverland - Karin Dreijer vocals have this other worldly quality. Throughout this album, you sense a strong Asian influence, with tones that sound like it came from the Orient.
• The Captain - This track is trying, it never really goes anywhere. A few warped vocals here, some more Asian melodies.
• We Share Our Mothers' Help - This is the most "80s" sounding song on the album. Very Kraftwerk-like with some piercing electronic bleeps.
• Na Na Na - Just a soft, simple little mood piece to counterpoint the previous song's hardness.
• Marble House - The sexiest track on the album. While Karin's vocals can be jarring because she sounds like she's trying to scare you, you forget that it can be rather beautiful and melodic.
• Like a Pen - This tracks sounds the most like a Royksopp song -- a lot of layering of different sounds, beats and pacing.
• From Off to On - Nothing much happening here, some whispering vocals over more Asian-sounding tones.
• Forest Families- My favorite track on the album, it's the most futuristic and it puts you in a spiritual zone. If I did drugs, I would probably trip to this song.
• One Hit - A little funk mixed into the album.
• Still Light - The album ends on a peaceful note with some soft melodies.

I think the album is a good introduction to The Knife's style of dance music. It pretty much aims for the head. Deep Cuts is the better album, which includes "Heartbeats" and "Listen Now."

You all know that I love my girl, Leslie Feist. I can say with certainty that she's my current favorite female singer-songwriter. Rounding out a top 5 would be Jenny Lewis, Neko Case, Regina Spektor and Beth Orton. To hold us over until she comes out with new material in early 2007, Feist released a remix album of Let it Die.

Remix albums are tricky. About one out of every 20 remixes are decent enough to be pay attention to, and one out of 50 are better than the original. My favorite remix album is Kings of Convenience's Versus, which re-imagines Quiet is the New Load.

So here's the deal with Open Season.

• One Evening [Gonzales Solo Piano] - This is a neat, all piano interpretation of the song. It's got a late night, lounge act feel to it.
• Inside + Out [Apostle of Hustle Unmix Live at the BBC] - Another good re-imagining of her Bee Gee's cover. The sparse, slowed down view of it makes it feel like a torch song.
• Mushaboom [Mocky Mix] - This is best remix of "Mushaboom" on the album. It's not entirely successful but at least it doesn't tinker with it too much.
• Gatekeeper [One Room One Hour Mix] - My favorite song on this album. It's sort of a Spanish, Bossa Nova view on "Gatekeeper." I wouldn't mind other songs on the album in this style.
• Lonely Lonely [Frisbee'd Mix]  - Remixes can be trying at six minutes plus. It ceases to be a remix and it becomes it's own entity. This remix feels a little pedestrian.
• Mushaboom [K-os Mix] - Fellow Canadian K-os appeared on the last Broken Social Scene album. His view of "Mushaboom" is a disaster. It sounds like a cheesy-80s rap song.
• Snow Lion - This is a song she did with Jean-Philippe Verdin (aka Readymade FC) that appears on his album Babilonia. It's a different little tune with a strange arrangement.
• Tout Doucement - It's sung in French, thus it's a remix
• Simple Story - More French fun, this appeared on Birkin's album, Rendez-Voux.
• Lovertits -  A cover of the Peaches song, don't like the original, and don't like this remix.
• Mushaboom (Postal Service Remix) - I wanted to like this, but it comes off as a little over produced. The Ben Gibbard vocal effects are a little too much.
• Gatekeeper [Do Right Mix] - This is a nice chill-out version of "Gatekeeper". It feels like I'm shopping at the Banana Republic when I hear this song.
• One Evening, When I Was a Young Girl and Mushaboom [VV Mix]  - The final three remix aren't pleasing. Too EuroTrash and clubby for my taste.

I like the rare tracks like Simple Story and Snow Lion. They'll take me a while to absorb and appreciate. A few fine remixes in the like Gatekeeper [One Room One Hour Mix] and Mushaboom [Mocky Mix], while others are only worth one listen for curiosity sake.

You may ask yourself, while waste my time ranting about Dashboard Confession? Easy, because someone has to. First off, look at that album cover. How would you like to be in this band? You spend months making the record, poured a lot of man hours in there, you get the final version of the album cover and you see the lead singer on the front and back of the album. It's like that scene in Almost Famous when the band has a shit-fit when they see the concert t-shirt. Russell Hammond is front and center while the rest of the band is blurred out. "Cause it is about the fucking t-shirt, man." That's nice of Chris Carrabba to take all glory from his band mates. I'd leave the band if I saw that album cover.

Anyway, I still don't understand while critics gush over Dashboard. I can see why young fans dig him because he sings about rejection and being lonely and the lyrics are like gospel to them. When I saw them open for Weezer, most of the crowd knew every word. I personally find the emo genre to be repetitive and void of any creativity. Wow, it's another song about being dumped. How novel!

The new album, Dusk & Summer, is a big deal because they suckered U2's producer Daniel Lanois to come aboard. I did listen to the whole album without skipping a track, just so that I can have an informed opinion. This is the best example of why I can't be a music critic -- I would use the terms "douche bag," "diaper wearer" and "sings like a bitch" in my review.

• Don't Wait - They discovered the power ballad. Steve Perry would be proud.
• Reason to Believe - This has the same structure as the previous track, a build-up to a chorus that has a lot of long power notes and screaming.
• The Secret's In the Telling - "We are compelled to do what we must do" That's deep man, he must have found that on a fortune cookie.
• Stolen - This sounds like they stole this from an Evanescence album.
• Rooftops & Invitations - To be played at every prom next year for the slow dance.
• So Long, So Long - Beware of the emo song that uses piano. Well, beware of all emo songs.
• Currents - You are now listening to the Lite FM with this song.
• Slow Decay - Back to the power ballad with some guitar riffs stolen from Matchbox 20.
• Dusk and Summer - My God, he's down-right James Blunt-ish with this track.
• Heaven Here - You think he gets laid when he plays this song for the ladies? Probably, that and his fine, coiffed hair. And the tats. And the fact he's rich. More power to him.

Music Nesting Dolls: The Gift That Says "I Give Up"

I'm sure this borders on copyright infringement of some sort, but if you're looking for kitschy gift and Spencer's Gifts or Urban Outfitters isn't cutting it, try these bad boys. They're Russian nesting dolls from your favorite bands.

ABBA. Just the way I want to remember Benny, Bjorn, Agnetha and Anni

Red Hot Chili Peppers. If you get this as a gift, you will want to go and "Give it away, now." Ha ha ha. Ohhh, I'm so funny.

KISS. When Gene Simmons finds out that he's not making money off of this, he's going to be plenty pissed.

Depeche Mode. This one kills me, Kahne looks like Kyle Mclachlan, the Twin Peaks years and if Morrissey was a serial killer.

Can Clap Your Hands Say Yeah dolls be far behind?

Deadboy & The Elephantmen @ Maxwell's

If you want to see a great band in a small venue and you can't deal with the sometimes pretension of New York, then please, come to Maxwell's on a weekend night. Or if you're coming from out of town, make it a point to cross over to evil New Jersey. In any event, rather than trek all the way out to Coney Island to see them during Siren Festival, me and about 70 others saw a fine set from Louisiana-based duo Deadboy & the Elephantmen. Taking a little break from their opening slot on the Peaches/Eagles of Death Metal tour, the band played straight-up blues fueled rock.

The Setlist:

• Misadventures of Dope
• How Long the Night Was
• Dressed in Smoke
• Die a Little
• Ancient Man
• Evil Friend
• Scarlett of Heaven nor Hell
• What the Stars Have Eaten
• Stop I'm Already Dead
• No Rainbow
• Encore: Blood Music
• Wave of Mutiliation (sorry, forgot that one)

I feel for any band who are basically a male on guitar and a female on drums. Yes, the comparison to THAT other band is inevitable. Obviously, Deadboy employs a bass player and the band doesn't have a shtick. So let's drop that. What you'll find is a sound that represents where they come from, a Cajun/Soul sound from outside of New Orleans. According to Wikipedia, "The area [Houma, LA] is famous for its food, fishing, swamps, music, and hospitality." It was also where the crap movie Skeleton Key was set. Drummer Tessie Brunet said on NPR that there's nothing to do there.

While the music doesn't have a Cajun-flare, there is a deep rooted Blues foundation running through every song. It's a modern version of the original sound that eventually morphed into rock 'n' roll. Many of the Dax Riggs songs are about dark themes, his drug addiction when he was with the metal band Acid Bath and his trouble upbringing.

Their set at Maxwell's so suited their sound, intimate songs in an intimate setting. Before most songs, Dax would just tell you the title of the song. Not "This one is called 'How Long the Night Was', " but just, "How Long the Night Was". No fancy stage banter needed, just a band, some people and a Saturday night feeling. Even though they started at 1am and I was starting a dose off, they are a completely engaging act, which I probably wouldn't have enjoyed on a big festival stage. Dax has such a strong, gravely voice. It's very distinctive. Tessie is sort of the fun spirit of the group, smiling between songs and chatting with us between set-ups and after the show. Yes, I did notice she's a darn cutie pie.

It was probably the smallest crowd I've ever seen at Maxwell's, which was fine with me because everyone was a fan of the Deadboy who showed up. Also attending was the crew from Crackers United.