Music Snobbery

Ting Tings @ All Points West

The last All Points West 2009 post. The tunnel at the end of the light has come.

Whaaaaaaattttt????? Come on, a lot of people see bands multiple times ... okay, eight times puts me in stalker territory. You know, if K & J don't see me at a show, they don't perform as well. Then I get an e-mail saying, "Oye, mate, where were you?"

So Ting Tings made their New Jersey debut. As much I tried to get them to play Maxwell's, I'll take a dance tent at 10pm with a hyped crowd. I'll quote the words from my Free Williamsburg partner-in-grime on the closing set of the night. She summed it up best by saying, "Thank you Ting Tings for reminding me that I have a vagina."

Coincidentally, that it also the title of my third book coming this December at a B&N near you. It's called Thank You Ting Tings for Reminding Me That I Have a Vagina: Further Adventures in MusicSnobbery. This is the follow up to Get On With It, You Bitch: A MusicSnobery Memoir and Dan Deacon At The Buffet Table: A Tale of MusicSnobbery.

In other news, Katie has a new hat. She takes after me. She'll wear it on their next U.S. visit, when they open up for Pink. I'll be out of the country, so I'm off the hook. They'll also work on new material this fall in Berlin with an eye on a 2010 release.

No more APW, we know return to your regularly scheduled programming already in progress.

Crystal Castles @ All Points West

Crystal Castles can come play in Jersey anytime they want. It would be an honor to have Alice break audio equipment and climb up on the furniture in the Garden State.

After My Bloody Valentine ended its aural assault, I navigated the mud and impatientTool fans to head over to the dance tent to see if Alice will set anything on fire or start a fight with a security guard. Alas, her set was incident free, just some random microphone tossing and the like. Even when she jumped off stage and onto the guard rail, security didn't help her much. "Ahh, skinny pale chick. She'll be fine."

I'll repeat what I said about Crystal Castles when I saw them last year, their music has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Those retro 80s 8-bit Atari sound effects and heavy techno beats doesn't do much for me. BUT DAMN, they put on an awesome show. Everything is amped up, the crowd goes nuts, the sound ricochets off everything and intense vibes gives you a big Adrenalin rush. There seems to be a disjointed nature from their albums to their live set. On album, they are introverted. Live, extroverts. I get it. Listen to an album is a personal experience. A live show is a communal experience.

Love how the pictures turned out, it looks like it was shot on the set of Alien 3.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neko Case @ All Points West

Can we say that Neko Case is in the Top 5 singer-songwriters working today? Can I get an amen? Maybe, take off, aye?

She makes it look so easy. She picks up a guitar, tells a few jokes and then moves a crowd with her haunting, yet engaging songs. I just want to sit on the side of the stage, indian style and just swim in that wonderful sound she produces.

Arctic Monkeys @ All Points West

I have to go back deep into the archives to see what I said about the Arctic Monkeys back in November 2005. They booked their first U.S. show in NYC, both at Mercury Lounge. If I remember correctly, I bought my ticket right away, but didn't sell out instantly. It took a few days. I went on holiday and then they just blew up. The second show was moved to Bowery, where all sorts of celeb type people where there. I spent the whole show standing next to Mike Skinner and didn't even know it.

Here's some selected passages:
-- It's easy to see why they became so popular, you can act like an idiot for every song. "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor" is one of those songs where you say, "Dammit, it's so simple. Why didn't I think of that?"

-- Tonight's show must have been a meeting of the British concert hooligan club of New York. From what my crew told me, the hyped-up crowd of tonight was the opposite of the reserved Mercury Lounge.

-- At one point, his guitar broke mid-song, so he changed mid song. "How embarrassing," he said. It's good to see that among the chaotic crowd and their "next big thing" status that they have a level head on stage ... for now.

-- I'm not going to make an predictions on what's in store for the Arctic Monkeys ... Everyone calm down, they are just starting out. Yes, they have a No. 1 debut single in the U.K. (I'm sure Sugababes was an easy song to beat), but one single does not make a great band. It just makes it tougher to separate the hype from the music. By the looks of their 15-year old looking faces (they did look rather scared to be there), they want people to hear the music or to, as they say, "Don't believe the hype."

Well, I do remember I had a good time at that show. I still think their debut album is rather brilliant. Second album, had some good tracks. This new one, urrrr, not so sure what I think.

As for their APW set, it was rather front loaded with passive songs and underwhelming playing. I was thoroughly disappointed.

The lads looked whacked out of their mind. They had that Kings of Leon look on their face of "I can't wait to be done with this so I go backstage and snog with my supermodel girlfriend." That Alex Turner kid may be the poet laurette of chav nation, but he still has some growing pains to go through. He's a good songwriter, but I wish the other guys had something to contribute.

I want to be sold on Arctic Monkeys. I was talking to the Free Williamsburg people, trying to figure out what the big deal is. We gathered if we were 15-20 years old, we would think they were the most brilliant band in mankind. It also could be a Lost in Translation thing that if you grew up in Britain, you might understand them better. When you boil it down, Monkeys are one of the most influential bands of this decade -- The Strokes of Sheffield.

St. Vincent @ All Points West

My vote for Best Dressed Performer at All Points West goes to Annie Clark. She's like Dick Tracy's girlfriend come to life. Maybe if Tess Trueheart could shred.

The transition from Kool Keith to Kool Vincent might have seemed odd at first, but considering there's a long gap between set-ups, it all worked out.

Like with Bat for Lashes new material, Annie managed to top herself with her sophomore album, Actor. She pushed her eccentric pop songs to a new level with different layers of instrumentation. Add to that her insane guitar skills and you got a fine, must-listen to album. Those new tracks translated well live, with the horns and keyboard parts giving "Save Me from What I Want" that needed dimension of quirkiness.

Previously:

• St. Vincent/Foreign Born/Basia Bulat @ Bowery Ballroom

Chairlift @ All Points West

It's never to early to wear a cocktail dress in Jersey City. Right, Caroline? As for drummer Pat, he went with the tasteful airbrushed MJ shirt.

Sooner or later, I'll catch a full set from Chairlift. They were running behind, and only got to hear their AutoTune-less cover of Snoop Dogg's "Sensual Seduction."

They'll be joining Phoenix this fall on their world domination tour -- making it the coolest tour this year. Time to get it on to the break of dawn.

Kool Keith @ All Points West

From The Cool Kids to Kool Keith -- all we need was somebody to spring Coolio from jail to complete the trifecta.

In the keeping with the Old Skool rap group theme of the weekend, K.K. was one of the original members of the Ultramagnetic MCs. On his own, he's best known for his alter ego, Dr. Octagon and his brilliant album with Dan The Automator, Dr. Octagonecologyst. It capture his off-kilter, ultra-hyper weird, porn-obsessed personality.

For his set at APW, the sometimes elusive Keith brought out his posse, which include legendary rapper and habitual sell out, Ice-T. I was glad he took time off from promoting direct-to-video kids films where he plays a donkey or starring in Law & Order: Electric Boogaloo.

By far, Kool Keith's set was the loudest of all the rap groups that weekend. The bass was shaking my innards in my ribcage.

The Cool Kids @ All Points West

Patience my friends, I only have eight more APW posts to go.

The Cool Kids were a serviceable kickoff to Saturday's mud pit extravaganza. I'm not going to put much stock in a duo who hang with douche masters Asher Roth and Maroon 5. They're probably in their social circle to steal their women and drink their alcohol. Heck, I'd do the same. Maybe take a carrot stick or two.

The two rap about the usual subjects -- blunts, syrup, bitches and parties. At least one of the guys gives props to the Kansas City Royals -- you gotta love an under-achieving baseball team. The other guy gives love to champion-less baller Patrick Ewing. If Lebron ever signs with the Knicks, the hip hop community might explode.

Jay-Z @ All Points West

Still cranking out APW posts. I could say they are from Lollapalooza and you wouldn't know the difference.

There are few pop culture arguments where there are no arguments. Best band of all time -- Beatles. Best soul singer of all time -- James Brown.  Greatest rapper of all time -- Jay-Z. No pause or thought needed.

For a man who is the greatest deserves a stage show that's equal to his talent. The visual and audio backing for his headlining gig on Friday's APW is nothing short of the best. As I said in my recap of Friday's line-up, it's Daft Punk meets Jay-Z. With Jay-Z's image hovering over himself, it made him look like the hip hop version of Charles Foster Kane.

Jay-Z is bigger than life, a man who can make hit after hit and make it new and different every time. When his image isn't projected behind him, you see a barrage of images from the world to back up his songs. During "99 Problems", you saw flashes from the video, which were taken from his own Brooklyn neighborhood.

As for already know, Hova paid tribute to MCA and Beastie Boys with starting out with No Sleep To Brooklyn. What I think is more noteworthy is his ending, where he goes through the crowd and gives shout outs to random people he spots -- "I see you guy in the tie dye shirt. Tie dye? Really?" That's something I've seen a performer do -- take 10 minutes to give individuals the thrill of a lifetime.

The setlist:

• No Sleep Till Brooklyn
• Brooklyn Go Hard
• Say Hello
• D.O.A. (Death Of Autotune)
• U Don’t Know
• Blue Magic
• My President Is Black 
• Beware Of The Boys
• I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)
• Show Me What You Got
• Diamonds From Sierra Leone 
• Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)…
• Izzo (H.O.V.A.)/I Want You Back
• Can I Live
• Swagga Like Us
• Jigga My Nigga
• Jigga What, Jigga Who
• Public Service Announcement 
• Dirt Off Your Shoulder
• Run This Town
• Encore: Medley: Money Ain’t A Thing/La La La/Fiesta/Where I’m From/Feelin’ It
• Can I Get A…
• 99 Problems
• Big Pimpin
• Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)
• Encore 

The song I wish he played, "Money Cash Hoes"

Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ All Points West

Jersey girl Karen O returns to her home state, and rocked the shit out the Garden State. Bergen County represent, yo! The Yeah shows at Maxwell's will always stick out in my mind as how I will remember the band for years to come -- in your face, raw and unhinged. The shows I've seen Bowery and Roseland left me thinking, "Man, it's just not the same." Their set at APW put my faith back into bands playing large stages. Especially with the new material, the band set energy levels off the chart.

I've been on Team YYYs in terms of the rock bands that emerged from NYC in the early part of the decade (Strokes, Interpol, Liars, Rapture). They best embody the New York spirit and managed to put the hellfire you see in the live show into the early EPs and debut album. Not many people threw their support behind Show Your Bones, but I thought it was a fine effort. It's was a leap of faith to totally rework their sound into something more introspective in order to not be pigeonholed as another trendy, art-rock punk band. Their new album, It's Blitz, is another home run in my book, a little more free-spirited and dancey. That new material worked out great at All Points West -- which lifted the spirits of the rain soaked crowd.

What hasn't been said about Miss Karen O, the queen bee of the New York rock scene, that hasn't been said before? She's the woman. Then she gave up the NYC scene for Los Angeles. At least my man Nick stayed local. The onstage antics have been toned down a notch or two, but she is still a dancing maniac. As you can see in this picture, K.O. likes to show off her moves. Then, that roving eye followed me whether I go, like a Scooby Doo cartoon when the gang walked by a painting. Later in the set, some inflatable eyeballs were unleashed into the crowd.

As reported elsewhere, K.O. gave a shout out to MCA on her arm.