More of my videos from Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti at Lincoln Hall (7/20)

And the bit from Round And Round where it gets a bit Durutti Column for a sec...

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Lincoln Hall Chicago, 7/20/10

"Butt-House Blondies" performed tonight by Ariel Pink and crew. Stay tuned for more upcoming videos... Awesome show, ran late, bed time.

Wild Beasts at Schubas, 2/18/10

Amazing.
What voices...What elan! What zeal!
They've got gusto, and harmonies, and mint cakes! (Maybe).
Really, what a great show. Here's my video of All The Kings Men.

Love. Them.

Mos Def, MF Doom, Congress Theater, 2/13/10

So, not the greatest night. Actually quite a huge disappointment. Got there at 8 (show started at 7), will call line was four blocks long. Almost two hours later we finally get inside (it was 18º outside mind you). Then, we have to listen to Mike Relm remix "Charlie Bit Me" for what seemed like a lifetime.
People are getting antsy. Are Mos and DOOM even showing up? It's midnight...we're tired, things have been thrown, boos have been, well booed, one guy had an anger ridden episode and found himself wrestled by security.
Finally at 12:15 Mos comes out in a DOOM mask and pretends for a wee bit to be the DOOMster himself, then off comes the mask...relief, it's Mos.
It's quite obvious Mos doesn't want to be there, while doing his best to look and sound "into it" it just isn't enough to make up for the 5 hour wait. Mos does his thing though, and God bless him, he showed up...for 45 minutes.
Then out comes "DOOM" (the quotation marks are appropriate, you'll see). So yeah, "DOOM" pops out, and within about five minutes it becomes apparent to almost everyone that there's a very good chance this isn't MF DOOM. It's been done before, and will be done again, but yes, in all likelihood DOOM sent out an impostor.
We were duped by DOOM.
Now I can't be 100% positive it wasn't him, you know the mask and all. Maybe I was projecting my tiredness and irritation to come to the worst possible conclusion. But these are the facts: First of all, he sounded very quiet. Much quieter than his hype man, secondly the volume of his voice was eerily uniform. Now, if it really was DOOM listlessly wandering around the stage moving his arms out of time, then I am just going to pretend it was an impostor anyway. Because, really, that was weak.
I don't want to say it was a waste of money because I love Mos Def and MF DOOM, but you know what? It was definitely a waste of time.

Victorian Horror Best Show Of 2009: The Contenders

Here's the pared down list in chronological order. This year's going to be a tough one, so many epic legends like Moz, Primal Scream, Pixies, and Depeche Mode. Also, there are a few new favorites (The Horrors). A few didn't make the cut (sorry Dead Man's Bones) but all of these were brilliant. Click on the text of each contender for the original posts, including videos and photos.




Antony And The Johnsons, The Vic, 2/12/09







Primal Scream, Metro, 3/22/09







Friendly Fires, Double Door, 4/3/09







Morrissey, Aragon Ballroom, 4/4/09







The Horrors, Metro, 5/9/09







Doves, The Vic, 5/29/09







M83, Pitchfork Music Festival 2009







Depeche Mode, Lollapalooza 2009







Grizzly Bear/Beach House, Metro, 9/27/09







The Horrors, Double Door, 10/11/09







Pixies, Aragon Ballroom, 11/19/09







Arctic Monkeys, The Riviera, 12/6/09

Arctic Monkeys at The Riviera, 12/6/09

I've never really liked Arctic Monkeys before this year's album Humbug, which is amazing. To me all their earlier stuff sounds a bit samey, and hearing it live I was all like "oh there's that song", and "hmm, didn't they play this one already?"
The new stuff is brilliant though, and has something about it that makes me willing to overlook my previous nonchalance. The Jeweller's Hands was so epic live, I'm sad that I didn't get a bit of video of it. It's probably for the best since my videos could hardly do it justice
I did manage to get some fuzzy pictures and videos of Crying Lightning and Cornerstone, two other great songs from Humbug.

Pixies, "Hey" live at the Aragon Ballroom 11/19/09

Pixies perform "Doolittle", Aragon Ballroom, 11/19/09

Just amazing. Wow. Videos and a lengthier recap to come later...

Dead Man's Bones, Schuba's, 10/21/09

So I've figured out why the Dead Man's Bones album was such a disappointment; they basically put out a school play as a record. The fact that Dead Man's Bones are a school play gone awry is also why their live show is so brilliant.

Adorable kids in costumes? Check. Dorky teacher types over-enthusiastically joining in? Check. Ryan Gosling? Erm...check.The music was pretty shambolic (in true school play fashion), but it also added to the charm. It might've be a bit wobbly, but it was super catchy. Songs that seemed too contrived on the album (My Body's a Zombie For You) are much more innocent in person, and god those kids were adorable!So yeah, it's a definite 'see it' for the show, and a 'burn it' for the album (and by 'burn it' I mean literally set it on fire, nobody needs that much hand clapping in their life).

The Horrors, Double Door, 10/11/09

What an amazing night. It was freezing cold outside, they didn't go on until 10:15PM on a Sunday night, but it was totally worth it. They've become my favorite thing of 2009.

Why are The Horrors so effing fantastic?





A) They're so damn serious. Not in a cringey earnest way like White Lies, but in the way that means they're all business. No, they're not going to break that fourth wall, they're here to put on a show and by George you're going to get one.

B) There's a Horror for everyone. There's the Bowie-esque one, the Kraftwerk/ Gary Numan looking one, the sixties bowl cut one, the Bauhaus one...and the drummer.

C) They've put out the best album of 2009.

D) They're rumored to be on the new Gorillaz album.

E) Their t-shirt has sucked me back into spending $$$ at the merch table.

Grizzly Bear/ Beach House, Metro, 9/27/09

I saw Beach House and Grizzly Bear tonight at Harmonyfest 2009. O.K, well it wasn't officially called Harmonyfest, but it should've been.

Beach House made the live versions of their songs a bit punchier than what you'll find on their ambient, shoegazy, moody albums. Victoria's voice is amazing and she didn't hold back at all, belting out my favorites with (I just realized) a voice eerily similar to Dusty Springfield's.

My Grizzly Bear experience was greatly improved over their Pitchfork set, I think their music is much better suited to intimate venues. There were moments that astonished me with their beauty, and yes their harmonies are excellent...but there were also a few (admittedly rare) moments where I got a bit lost in the proggy-ness. The couple next to me progressively got drunker over the night, and by the end of the set were trying to dance along to the music. Grizzly Bear's songs are pretty convoluted, so I'm sure you can imagine how successful they were. The lighting on stage was quite twee (in a good way). They had lightbulbs inside mason jars. Aww.

Pitchfork on Sunday was The Very Best

The Flaming Lips, Pitchfork Music Festival. 7/19/09

I was only able to got to Pitchfork on Sunday this year, however, it seems I picked the best day. I got to see old Victorian Horror favorites, M83 - as well as Grizzly Bear (who were amazing), DJ Rupture, The Walkmen, The Flaming Lips, and The Very Best.
The Very Best were the surprise of the evening, those of us who left The Flaming Lips to go check them out were duly rewarded with a fantastic show.
I couldn't do a festival post without my award-winning shaky video...so here's a mash up of all the stuff I saw yesterday:

Favorite Tweets from tonight's Blur show

There are some funny folk out there on Park Lane:





ACCRINGTON STANLEY!

Blur @ Hyde Park videos

Some videos of yesterday's show. How scary does that crowd look? It's a like tsunami of people. [Youtube]

Blur at Hyde Park: day two.

So it's day two of Blur's Hyde Park shows, and tonight should be even better than yesterday. The Friday tickets went on sale first, before the Thursday show was announced, so expect the hardcore Blurophiles to be out tonight!
I'll update again today with any news I get hold of. In the meantime, here's the Flickr pool of last nights show:

Blur Hyde Park on Flickr.

Blur at Hyde Park (Photo)

via metro.co.uk

Blur at Hyde Park TONIGHT

It's here! The first of two epic Hyde Park shows is tonight. I'll be keeping a running ticker of the latest news coming from Park Lane.
To start with, perennial source for soundbites, the NME.

Blur to put 'heart and soul' into tonight's (Jul 2,3) Hyde Park(life) gigs [NME]

Blur Braced For Start Of London Hyde Park Residency...It gets under way tonight [Festival Wise]



Watch the announcement video again:

• Remember, Absolute Radio will be replaying an entire show starting at 5pm GMT, on July 5th HERE.

• Remember, you can pre-order the live album recorded at the Hyde Park shows. Get a four disc set for both nights, or just a single night. Also available- Mp3's.

• From Parlophone's twitter, a real-time photo from Hyde Park:

• From Eddiecurry's twitter, opening band Foals on the stage. I love them:

The stage design seems to be very Anglocentric. Map of London one side, map of Britain the other. Hmm. Doesn't seem to bode well for future American shows.

Blur's Glasto performance a critical triumph

Wow. It seems everyone was blown away by Blur's headlining performance. Every review I've read has been absolutely glowing. This can only mean good things for Blur fans right? Maybe Blur will be inspired to continue together and write a new album, or will it egg them into a few American dates? What about that vintage Blur photo-shoot t-shirt Graham wore! It was an emotional night, one that brought a few tears to this fan's eyes (and that was just watching it through a dodgy internet stream).

Here are a few quotes from the press:

Tim Jonze from The Guardian : "It's at this point – when previously dismissed tracks acquire a new life of their own – that you realise something truly magical is going on. Because tonight's headline slot is not just about the music. It's not even about nostalgia. It's about friendship – and the truly heartwarming sight of two best friends throwing aside their differences and starting afresh."

Laura Barton from The Guardian : "The audience, elated, even a touch delirious, wills them on; when Albarn's voice gives way a little in Beetlebum, the crowd rushes to catch it. Tender, one of the set's many highlights, is greeted with a warm rush of approval. "I'd forgotten they're a singalong band!" says the man to my right, as the band stops and starts, revs up the chorus once more and then falls silent, the sudden quiet filled by several thousand festival-goers softly singing the song's chorus: "Oh my baby," they lilt, "Oh my baby. Oh why. Oh why." It is one of the sweetest moments of the festival. Their efforts are duly rewarded with an ebulliant rendition of Country House, a song which acquires greater resonance here tonight for the muddy-booted masses. And for Alex James of course."

Nick Hasted from the Independent: "But is Blur, and Damon Albarn's tearful wrestling with his own Glastonbury moment, that makes this year's festival great."

More news and pictures from:

NME: Blur Close Glastonbury In Epic Fashion
Gigwise: Blur Unleash Emotional Headline Set At Glastonbury Festival 2009
BBC: Blur Bring Curtain Down On Glasto
The Sun: Blur Wows Glasto
MTV: Blur Close Glastonbury

Doves @ The Vic 5/29/09: A proper top night out

What a fantastic show. The crowd was amazing, and Doves were on top form.
It's been four years since Doves last played in Chicago, and their 2005 show was one of my favorites ever. This time might have been even better.
They played songs from the new album Kingdom Of Rust, as well as crowd pleasers from Lost Souls, The Last Broadcast, and Some Cities.
Highlights were 10:03, The Greatest Denier, and their tried and true encore including There Goes The Fear.
Brilliant!
Here's my photos and videos from tonight's show.




The Greatest Denier:

Almost Forgot Myself:

There Goes The Fear:

The Horrors @ The Metro: Part Two

So I've slept on it and yes, I still agree that the show was amazing. They abandoned everything from Strange House, playing only songs from their new album Primary Colours. While I don't think their first album is a write off, it really doesn't have anything on Primary Colours, so I think it was a good move on their part.

The songs were a little looser than the recorded versions, which is not to say they lacked technical polish. In fact, it seemed a conscious effort to veer slightly closer to their earlier garage band incarnation, and is probably the only logical way these songs could be performed by The Horrors' dueling personalities.

I've heard some say that they are ripping off Interpol, but give them some credit, at least say they're ripping off Joy Division. That's just one of their influences though, much like the Britpop bands of the mid nineties merged music from the 60's, 70's, and 80's into a new sound, The Horrors are merging sounds from the late 70's, 80's and 90's. You can hear Can, Kraftwerk, and New Order on the more electronic side, and Bauhaus, Echo And The Bunnymen, and even a strong My Bloody Valentine presence pooling all that post-punk has to offer.

I suspect that The Horrors have a great future ahead of them, and maybe in a few years Strange House will be one of those re-examined first albums of a great band. However, I think Primary Colours will be remembered as their true starting point.
All the good ones wait 'til the second album to show their stripes...they're joining the likes of Radiohead, The Clash, and Blur on that point.

I was more excited than I usually am to see this show, a level of excitement I usually only get to experience before seeing bands I've loved for years. I've literally had all the songs from Primary Colours as the "screen saver" in my head. If I'm daydreaming, the soundtrack is The Horrors. They didn't disappoint, in fact they reinforced my new found obsession with everything they're up to.

Here's a video mash up of some of the show...taken in true Victorian Horror crumbly quality: