music and talk and whaddaya no

April 05, 2005

review the situation, take part, take over


Death From Above 1979 at the Red Room Rocked

Controller.Controller... Now it's the RED Room


This past week was my 3 shows in 3 days week. It was great. Tiring, but great. Let's go over them, shall we?
  • Wednesday night. Commodore Ballroom. Dizzee Rascal: The Boy in Da Corner was on point that night for this first show of his North American tour. The crowd was right into it as well. To watch him rap was transfixing and mesmerizing (although that could also be because I was pretty damn drunk, as seems to be the case whenever I get together with my cousin, but let's give the man the benefit of the doubt). A true talent on record, and, as I have now confirmed with my own eyes and ears, on stage as well.
  • Thursday night. Commodore Ballroom. Stars / Feist / Apostle of Hustle / Montag: This was part of Exclaim! magazine's 13th anniversary tour across Canada. I decided to play this one sober after the previous evening. Montag opened, and it was quite the sleeper. Not the way to grab the crowd. It wasn't horrible, but lullabies (albeit with some intersting sounds mixed in) were not what I was looking for to start the evening. Apostle of Hustle brought it up a notch, with Andrew Whiteman's inspired guitar playing. It woke up the audience just in time. Then Leslie Feist came on. Her voice really is something special. And as my good friend Saul astutely pointed out, her guitar playing had a nice and raw, bluesy quality. That was it: just her and the guitar, but it was enough. Stars followed, and they were as fantastic as last time I saw them. The new songs are great, and they played some older ones, which are still great. They are electric on stage, and I very much recommend seeing them live. This show would have been so much better if it were just Stars and Feist. No offence to the other two bands, but this just went on too long. Despite that, however, I was not disappointed.
  • Friday night. The Red Room. Death From Above 1979 / Controller.Controller and Elizabeth: The show rocked. And hard. Elizabeth came on to open. I wasn't terribly impressed, but at least they were inspired. They were followed by Controller.Controller, who I've been dying to see ever since I got their History record many months ago. They did not disappoint. This was a tight band, and easily got me off my ass to move it around a bit. The guitar was loud but crisp, and Nirmala Basnayake's vocals were fantastic. Can't wait to see them again. DFA 1979 rocked even harder. Before I knew it I was right in the thick of the mosh pit, sweating and pushing and body checking. It was a lot of fun. Even after I got cracked in my jaw. I decided at that point, though, to pull away from the pit and enjoy the show from a safer distance. That doesn't mean I didn't move, though. It was hard not to. Another band I would see again.

British Sea Power - Be Gone and The Land Beyond   I'm in the midst of reviewing the newest British Sea Power album, Open Season, for Discorder, and I have to say that it's an album that I really have grown to like. I've chosen a couple of songs for you to sample, that I think represent the album's feel, and quality. The first of the two songs, "Be Gone", is one of the more driving ones on the album (and please forgive me for the somewhat abrupt cutoff at the end. This song segues into the next, and I couldn't figure out how to fade out), while the second, "The Land Beyond", is an understated gem with a sweet melody. Both songs are engaging without being flashy or pretentious. Before you know it, they will be stuck in your head. Check them out, and tell me what you think. (You can purchase it from Rough Trade)
Posted by: Rob / 16:34
Comments:
I am down with Be Gone, but wasn't much into The Land Beyond. Neither song is very up beat, though the former has some very appealing melodic elements that I feel are lacking from the later.
# posted by Blogger JonBen : 16/4/05 22:21
 
Post a Comment

<< Home