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Archive for September, 2019

Babymetal (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 13, 2019)

Posted in Babymetal, F.HERO, IRONBUNNY, J-Pop, Japan, Japanese Music, Kawaii, Mastodon, Philadelphia, PA, The Electric Factory, The Fillmore Philadelphia on September 13, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 13, 2019] Babymetal

I first heard of BABYMETAL back in 2014 when they were a massive WTF in the music scene.

Here was a band that played heavy heavy music but the singers were teenage Japanese girls who were totally kawaii and who sang in a distinctly pop style.  The 17-year-old metal purist in me would have been infuriated by this abomination to metal.

But my adult self things this is an amazing amalgam of style and one that is designed to shake people out of their comfortable bubbles.   Even if you balk at the singing style (and the dancing), the music is really really heavy.  Like, impressively heavy.

But the juxtaposition doesn’t end there.  Between the heavy music comes occasional moments of synthy pop goodness.  It made my brain explode the first time I watched the video for “Gimme Chocolate.”  By the time I watched it a second time I was hooked and was determined to see them live.

Back in 2016, I somehow missed that they were playing the Electric Factory.  I was seeing Mastodon there two nights before their show but when I asked if there were any tickets left, they had sold out ages ago.  Boo!  [Looking at that setlist I see they played seven different songs last time!]

So, three and a half years later they finally came back into town and I bought a ticket right away.  Actually, I was supposed to be away for the weekend so I bought a ticket for Sunday in New York City.  This would have been so much work because I would have just come back from a camping trip, I would have had to drive into NYC to a place I’ve never been and it was a Sunday night.  So I was glad the trip was cancelled and I could go on Friday night after all!

I arrived and ran past the merch hoping to get a decent spot, but it was pretty packed.  I managed to get behind some short people and all was well for the opening band.  Then, when Avatar left, somehow 200 people pushed their way in front of all of us who felt like we were packed in pretty tight already.  I didn’t step back at all but somehow twice as many people were in front of me.  Woah. (more…)

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Avatar (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 13, 2019) [BABYMETAL]

Posted in AC/DC, Avatar, Babymetal, Marilyn Manson, Philadelphia, PA, Swedish Music, The Fillmore Philadelphia on September 13, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 13, 2019] Avatar 

I have grown to really dislike the Fillmore (which is not how I felt almost exactly three years ago).  The sound is always excellent and it’s a nice big stage, but I feel the venue is too big and, more often than not the crowd is really unpleasant.  I’m sure this is because I’m a priss, but I don’t need rude people around more interested in the bar than the music, me pushing for no reason (a mosh pit is a good reason to push, but not much else is), and talking through a show.  It’s especially irritating with quieter bands.   Fortunately, Avatar is not quiet.

I had not heard of Avatar when it was announced that they’d be opening for Babymetal.  I didn’t really know who would pair up with Babymetal’s brand of JPopMetal.  Rather than going for another Japanese metal band (of which there are dozens of great ones to choose) they went with a more theatrical outfit.  And if Babymetal’s stage show weren’t as spectacular as it was, Avatar would have blown them away.

Avatar is a metal band from Sweden.  They formed in 2001. They started out as a “melodic death metal” band.  I’ve never quite understood this phrase, but Wikipedia tells me

The genre combines aspects of traditional heavy metal [like] fast riffing and harmonic guitar lines, with the heavily distorted guitars, fast double-bass drum patterns and occasional blast beats of death metal. The vocal style typically combines harsh screaming and growling with melodic singing.

On their first two albums, singer Johannes Eckerström emphasized the growling vocal style.  They became more melodic (with some growling and some singing) and then for their fourth album, Black Waltz, Eckerström added a “Clown” persona.

Since then, the Avatar show has become a, quite frankly, amazing spectacle. (more…)

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Maile Meloy–“Ranch Girl” (New Yorker, October 16, 2000)

Posted in Acid Mothers Temple, Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O., Babies, Cowboys, Cows, Death, Horses, Japanese Music, Kawabata Makoto, Maile Meloy, New Yorker, Sex, Sexism, Short Story, Violence, Virginity (Loss of), 河端一 on September 13, 2019| Leave a Comment »

amazSOUNDTRACK: KAWABATA MAKOTO [河端一]-INUI 2 (2000).

a1729275931_16Kawabata Makoto [河端一] is the guitarist and mastermind behind Acid Mothers Temple. The band is hugely prolific. But he still had time to record solo albums. Often times without any guitar.

This was Kawabata’s second solo LP, now available on bandcamp

INUI 2 was the first widely available solo CD by this prolific Japanese guitarist/composer/bearded guru. Known primarily for his recent work with oddballs Acid Mothers Temple, Kawabata’s career actually goes back to the late ’70s and spans many styles, including solo guitar improv, electronics, folk, and, of course, the deranged acid mayhem associated with the PSF scene. Performed entirely solo on violin, kemenje, zurna, electronics, sarangi, taiko, gong, water, bouzouki, cello, vibes, organ, and sitar, the four tracks that make up INUI 2 are perfectly executed dream-music, equal parts delicately floating and heavily droning. There’s also one all-too-short modal essay for bouzouki that is amazingly beautiful.

“Mou” (9:56) has a drone underpinning the song as he plays a quiet keyboard melody over the top.  About half way through the zurna comes in playing its somewhat harsh melody (although it is less harsh here).  This is a pretty cool chill out song.  [Instruments: Violin, kemenje, zurna, electronics].

“Meii” (11:02) is composed of slowly plucked sarangi strings.  They ring out loud and are accompanied by thumps on the taiko and occasional crashes of the gong. There is also a high pitched feedback/electronic sound that rings out form time to time.   About midway through the bowing become s a little wild and improvisational until it settles back down again.  [Instruments: Sarangi, taiko, gong, water].

“Shi” (3:47) is the ‘all too short” piece and I agree that it is too short.  It features a quietly plucked string melody on the bouzouki that is very pretty.  It has mild drones behind it.  About half way through the melody changes, a faster more deliberate style but still quiet and pleasing.  I could listen to this one for much much longer.  [Instruments: bouzouki, cello, vibe, organ].

“Kan” (14:18) starts as harsh electronic drone with occasional blips of hi frequency sounds.   It’s the first unpleasant sound on the disc.  Although after 2 and a half minutes, the string drones enter and smooth things over.  At some point a pulsing possibly, backwards recorded series of notes comes in to give the drone some drive.  [Instruments: bowed sitar, violin, electric sitar, electronics].

[READ: September 10, 2019] “Ranch Girl”

This brief story was collected in Meloy’s Half in Love.

It starts with the fatalistic sentence:

If you’re white and you’re not rich or poor but somewhere in the middle it’s hard to have worse luck than to be born a girl on a ranch.

The unnamed protagonist grew up the daughter of the foreman of the Ted Haskell Running H Ranch.  Haskell’s brand was a slanted H–she had seen it all her life and didn’t know an H was supposed to be upright until she went to school. (more…)

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Built to Spill (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, September 12, 2019)

Posted in And And And, Babe Florida, Babymetal, Brazil, Built to Spill, Carpete Florido, Caustic Resin, Death Cab For Cutie, GAAX, Lê Almeida, Oruã, Prism Bitch, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sayreville, NJ, Starland Ballroom, The Guardian, The Halo Benders, The Kinks, Transfusão Noise Records, Treli Reli Repi on September 12, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 12, 2019] Built to Spill

After the last time I saw Built to Spill (which was amazing), I felt like I didn’t really need to see them again.  The show was excellent and I was right in front of Doug–an amazing vantage point.

Then he announced he was touring the Keep It Like a Secret album.  This is the album that introduced me to the band 20 years earlier and it has some of my favorite songs on it.  So yes, of course I was going to go see that.  It turned out that the Philly show was on a night I was busy (but I did get a ticket just in case–turns out my plans changed but then Babymetal announced a show for that night so I sold my BtS ticket for and went to Babymetal instead).  But this show at Starland Ballroom was going to happen the night before my plans anyway, so I grabbed a ticket for this show.

I have mixed feeling about Starland.  If you get there late–and it’s a popular show–forget about it.  When we saw Death Cab for Cutie, we were lucky to get in the door.  So for BtS I left really early and got there really early and was about the 17th person in the building.  So I had my pick of where to stand.

Last time I saw BtS, I was right in front of Doug Marstch, like right on the stage.  It was incredible watching him from so close.  And yet, due to acoustics, I could barely hear him at all.  So I told myself that this time I would stand back and enjoy the whole experience.  But things got the best of me.  First off, there was a gate, so I wasn’t going to be right up against the stage.  But more importantly as I stood back in a sweet spot, I watch all these tall people push past me and I couldn’t help myself, I had to grab a railing spot.  So once again I was right in front of Doug and his massive amplifier.  I could hear the vocals a little bit better than last time, but again, it wasn’t the same as hearing the full band.  And, honestly I could barely hear the second guitarist.  So, I have really learned my lesson for next time.  But again, it was so cool seeing him work his magic up close that I’m willing to overlook some things.

But NEXT TIME, for sure I will stand back.

Oh and check out this cool poster for the tour.

(more…)

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Prism Bitch (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, September 12, 2019) [BUILT TO SPILL]

Posted in Built to Spill, Prism Bitch, Sayreville, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Starland Ballroom on September 12, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 12, 2019] Prism Bitch

I hadn’t heard of Prism Bitch before this tour.  I looked them up and listened to their EPs on bandcamp and rather liked them.

They have great lyrics and a catchy punky style, including a song called “Tits Off” which I think they played but I’m not sure.  But mostly they have a lot of energy.

Before they went on, we could see their ankles and feet below the screen that was in front of the stage.  I was amused that they all seemed to be wearing different colors.  And indeed as the screen went up they were revealed to be all wearing matching Adidas tracksuits. (more…)

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And And And (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, September 12, 2019) [BUILT TO SPILL]

Posted in And And And, Built to Spill, Prism Bitch, Roddy Doyle, Sayreville, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Starland Ballroom, The Commitments on September 12, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 12, 2019] And And And

When I saw the band that was opening for Built to Spill was called And And And, I knew it sounded familiar.  I knew it was from some work of fiction.  And then it finally came to me that it was from The Commitments. Roddy Doyle’s hilarious book that inspired the movie.

The band is mentioned here:

Jimmy Rabbitte: What do you call yourselves?
Derek: “And And And.”
Jimmy Rabbitte: “And And fuckin’ And?”
Derek: Well, Ray’s thinking of putting an exclamation mark after the second “and.” Says it’d look deadly on the posters.
Jimmy Rabbitte: Psshh…
Outspan Foster: You don’t like it? You think it should go at the end?
Jimmy Rabbitte: I think it should go up his arse.

Excellent.

I instantly loved this band from Portland who were so bold as to take this name (no exclamation points). (more…)

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Edwidge Dantiat–“Water Child” (New Yorker, September 11, 2000)

Posted in Acid Mothers Temple, Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O., Audrey Ginestet, Babies, Edwidge Danticat, Haiti, Hospitals, Kawabata Makoto, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Nurses, Parenting, Short Story, 河端一 on September 12, 2019| Leave a Comment »

New_Yorker_September_11_2000-2015_02_20_13_56_46-1000x1400SOUNDTRACK: KAWABATA MAKOTO [河端一]-INUI 1 (2000).

a2061426618_16Kawabata Makoto [河端一] is the guitarist and mastermind behind Acid Mothers Temple.  The band is hugely prolific.  But he still had time to record solo albums.  Often times without any guitar.

This was Kawabata’s first solo LP, now available on bandcamp

from way back in 2000 (about 100 releases ago, in Kawabata terms). Originally released by the mighty SIWA label in a tiny, hand printed edition of 300, this has long been the most sought-after Kawabata item, pretty much impossible to track down without a wallet full of ebay slush funds. The music, as on all of Kawabata’s INUI series releases, is intensely personal and introspective, with long tracks built up of soft-focus layers of mid-fi violin, sarangi, oud, sitar, bouzouki, etc.

And that’s what this is.

The credits indicate that he plays violin, sarangi, oud, sitar, bouzouki, lyra, shou, nei, and sings.

There are three tracks.

“Shin” (11:09) is a quiet drone of him playing any or all of the instruments mentioned.  I like the middle eastern drone style paired with a kind of lead bowing improv.  The piece ends with a fifteen second moaning voice.  The voice is French film maker and musician Audrey Ginestet.

Tai (9:45) is combination of drones and plucked notes.  He sings a melody along with a bowed solo, making this song very calming.

Son (21:45) is nearly twenty minutes of unchanging drones.  It can really make you feel transcendent.  After about 16 minutes his voice comes in, echoing and distant.

This album is not for everyone, but it can certainly put you in a different head space.

[READ: August 15, 2019] “Water Child”

Nadine is a nurse.  She has moved to Brooklyn from Haiti and is living by herself.

The story opens wit her receiving a letter from her parents. It is positive and warm and asks her to call them.  Nadine wants to call but does not. For days and weeks.  But she reads the note several times a day, marveling at the lightness of the airmail paper.

Nadine ate lunch by herself.  A fellow nurse, Josette’s lunch began when Nadine’s ended and they crossed paths every day.  But their conversations were brief and functional. (more…)

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Richard Ford–“Issues” (New Yorker, September 18, 2000)

Posted in Death, Domestic Violence, Humiliation, Marriage Trouble, Nick Hornby, Raccoons, Radiohead, Richard Ford, Sex, Sexism, Soul Coughing, The Beatles, Violence on September 11, 2019| Leave a Comment »

indexsep18SOUNDTRACK: RADIOHEAD-“Paperbag Writer” (2004).

I had recently read a review of Radiohead’s Kid A by Nick Hornby.  he really did not like the album at all.  He bemoaned their lack of musicality and, I gather, catchiness.  The bass line in “Is Chicago” reminded me a tad of this song and I thought it would have been a funny dig at him to include this modern Radiohead song that is almost a Beatles song but in fact nothing like a Beatles song.

Washes of strings and jittery quiet percussion open the song as Thom Yorke quietly mumble/sings:

Blow into this paperbag,
Go home, stop grinning at everyone.
It was nice when it lasted,
But now it’s gone.

After about a minute a bass comes in.  A series of two notes followed by the one main melodic moment of the song–a bass line that ascends a scale.  The song follows this pattern–strings, clicks and this bassline.

There’s a middle instrumental section which is just the strings and clicks.

Then Yorke returns, muttering “Blow in to this paper bag,”

The end of the song is pretty much all this bassline, now modified to not include the melody part just a repeated Morse code kind of sequence.

It’s not always easy to know what Radiohead are playing at. But the title of this song is strangely funny.

[READ: September 10, 2019] “Issues”

It’s hard to read a story about a man who hits a woman.   Even if he feels badly about it. Even if the woman doesn’t seem all that perturbed by it.  Even if he does get his comeuppance.

The story begins with Steven Reeves and his wife Marjorie driving to a party.  This observation about them was interesting: “They were extremely young, Steven Reeves was twenty-eight, Marjorie Reeves a year younger.”  Twenty-eight is “extremely” young?

As the story opens, Marjorie confesses that she had an affair with George Nicholson, the man of the house they are going to right now.  She doesn’t confess that the affair went on for a while–until they got tired of it.

I liked that the women in their neighborhood didn’t care for Marjorie.  They thought she was a bimbo who wouldn’t stay married to him for long and that his second wife would be the “right” wife. (more…)

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Of Monsters and Men (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 10, 2019)

Posted in Hozier, Iceland, Of Monsters and Men, Philadelphia, PA, The Head and the Heart, The Met Philadelphia on September 10, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 10, 2019] Of Monsters and Men

Back at Christmas 2011, S. bought me the debut albums by Of Monsters and Men and The Head and the Heart.  I instantly fell in love with both bands (and sometimes can’t tell who is who when I hear one of their songs).  This concert might help me distinguish but we’re also seeing The Head and the Heart in the same venue in a month.

But maybe the spectacle of this show will help me distinguish them.

Because it was a wonderful spectacle.

I love thinking about how this band of six or seven musicians from Iceland somehow conquered the world with their singalong anthems.  It’s also fascinating to me that they only released their third album this year.

I really like the new album.  It sounds a bit different (more synthy, poppy) but it remains very OMAM.

They played a lot from the new album which was fine. In fact, they played 19 songs in total, spanning all of their records, but focusing mainly on their first and third releases. (more…)

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Lower Dens (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 10, 2019) [OF MONSTERS AND MEN]

Posted in Lower Dens, Of Monsters and Men, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on September 10, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 10, 2019] Lower Dens

Back in 2010, Lower Dens did a Tiny Desk Concert.  I watched it in 2015 and really liked them.  Everything that I liked about them involved the interplay of singer Jana Hunter’s guitar with either the vocals or the bass.   So I was pretty happy to see that they were going to open for Of Monsters and Men.

A few days ago I listened to the new Lower Dens album and really didn’t like it all that much.  It’s more synthy, but that’s not why I didn’t like it.  I certainly liked the lyrics, but I just didn’t like the whole delivery.

I didn’t really know what to expect when the band came on stage.

Front and center was Jana Hunter.  Hunter looked very masculine (I loved the shirt Hunter was wearing), but that was rather puzzling because I thought the singer was a woman.  Plus the whole set was very synthy and didn’t sound like those early songs at all.  I genuinely wondered if I had the wrong band in my head.

I have since read that Hunter is gender fluid, so that’s cool.  Hunter’s voice really does run the gamut from low to high, so Hunter’s gender doesn’t make any difference to the voice.

But that still doesn’t change the fact that I was really bored by the set. (more…)

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