Music Snobbery

Marissa Nadler / Alela Diane @ Union Hall

Before catching up with The Grates on Saturday night, I made sure to catch the early show at Union Hall. I figure I should actually see somebody I hadn't seen before -- Alela Diane. Her and Marissa Nadler have joined forces to spread good will and good tunes to cities across the land.

Alela Diane's claim to fame is that the people at the Rough Trade shops called her 2007 album, The Pirate's Gospel, the best album for that year. The quality she brings to her work is that she inhabits the characters and portrays their stories in lush detail and with truthful emotion. It's as if she's calling on the ghosts to create these songs. Yeah, it's deep. Even if you don't look deep into her music like I do, you must admit that her voice is distinct.

She's released three projects this year. Her latest solo project is To The End. There are more musically elements to this one, I frankly I like this more than The Pirate's Gospel because it's a little more accessible to my tastes. The production found the right balance between her true voice and the echo effect that she relies on. Next, she collaborated with fellow west coaster Alina Hardin for an EP of covers and originals called Alela and Alina. Finally, the album I've pointed out before and which will make my Top 10 of the year is the Headless Heroes project that takes her voice to completely new level of awesomeness.

So seeing her live was something high on my list. It was just on guitar or her with another guitarists. It was simple, straightforward and soothing. If you can make Union Hall shut up on a Saturday night for the most part then you've done your job. She not that far into her career, but it will interesting to see if she gains some notoriety that would allow her to bring more musicians on stage. Ten years from now, she can be the new Neko Case, and then she can get shocked in Montclair.

Miss Marissa Nadler follow Alela and god bless her, she asked politely for the people to be quiet and people STFU for once. She was so shy about it, "So ... um ... I know it's like ... Saturday night and all ... but I just want to set the mood..." I've seen Marissa before a few years ago with El Perro del Mar and I'll note again how ghostlike her voice is. She had a different tone than Alela, it's a higher register and a little more angelic.

This self-described wallflower lets her lyrics convey her inner-thoughts. Her latest album, Little Hells, is not hot, but more chilling. Like most fine singer-songwriters, what you hear on record is what you hear live. I had the same ideas for Marissa as I did with Alela, a little more a popularity push and she could but all those elements, the lapsteel, the piano and the drums, on stage.

Black Kids @ Bowery Ballroom: The Kids Are Alright ... Bordering on Okay

Going back to last Sunday, Black Kids, the band who are either going to be the "Next Big Thing" or the "Next Big Over-hype" played their first headlining gig at Bowery Ballroom. They were the name to drop at CMJ last year. I remember when they played R bar and I wanted to go. I saw it was way crowded and said to myself, "I'll see them next time, when they are over-rated and it's not cool to like them anymore." Well, last Sunday may have been that time. I'm just concerned with how the music is and how well they perform as a band.

Obviously, "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You" is your de facto summer jam of 2008. Indeed, it is a catchy, giddy tune that make you loose control. It's the track the Go! Team failed to make on their second album with its cheerleader chorus, shouts and retro grooves. It's a fun track to see live because it plays as an anthem for good times. The boy Youngblood, with his Robert Smith vocals, is so well suited for the song.

Other than that, gang, they have two other great songs, and the rest you can delete from your itunes. The show didn't start with a bang but with a mehhhhhhhh. I began to think, "Oh dear, Lord. How can a nation of tastemakers be wrong?" Hurricane Jane was so slow and lethargic. You wonder if they band actually likes that song. It's suppose to be a sexy, seductive song, but you sense that they are forcing the grooves and retro synth sounds into an otherwise bland song.

It's the other song from Wizard of Ahhs that has some vitality to it, "Hit the Heartbreaks" with the "Oh whoo is me" vocals and hard hitting beats. When Reggie said during the show that the new album was produced by Bernard Butler of Suede and The Tears, it's when the band finally came together. They then blazed into the classic oldies, Roy Orbison meets The Shangri-Las style of "I've Underestimated My Charm (Again)". There was one other song that was had me getting into the groove, which will be on the band's debut, Partie Traumatic.

I just think that we talk about these bands early on and the attention doesn't allow them to work on their sound and get use to each other as a band. I'm very guilty on it myself. Sometimes, bands are good right off the bat. Other times, they are good for a few songs early on, but then when you see the complete package, you sense that there isn't much beyond a handful of catchy songs you hear on their myspace page. I have a feeling Black Kids might suffer from the too much, too soon scenario. No anointing oil will be coming from me, but they have some good things that could lead them into better songs. I have to wait and hear the new album when it comes out in July.

That said, their bass player, Owen Holmes, is the man. Like most bass players, he's laid back and just blends into the music. He gives the songs the danceability because most of their tunes rely on a heavy bass to get you dancing along.

Just now I was reading the NY Times review of the same show, at like with most NY Times music reviews, I have no idea if they liked it of not. For me, it's not a matter if I liked it, is if I had a good time. Off and on, yes, it was a good dance party atmosphere. Other times, I'm staring at them and wondering what the big deal is. I have a feeling these up-and-comers are thinking the same thing.