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04/25/09 Rock & Roll Hotel w/ Bowerbirds Washington, Washington DC
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04/26/09 First Unitarian Chapel Phila, PA 04/27/09 Mercury Lounge NY 04/28/09 Monkeytown Brooklyn, NY 04/30/09 TT The Bear’s Cambridge, MA |
Hey ya’ll (that’s an homage to Vu’s travels down south). I’m sorry, this review is grossly overdue, please don’t be a hater. Fortunately, this was an interesting night, and besides the wealth of minors that obstructed my view, the music was pretty good. Let’s talk about the music.
Openers Resplandor are from Peru, not Beirut*
Hopefully this doesn’t sound like I’m making a cultural stereotype, but all five members had that dark, brooding elegance that I associate with South America. Similarly, their music was also dark, brooding, and slightly off-putting. Singer Aracelli Fernandez is just a wee thing up on stage; all crazy with the hair and the New Age hand movements. The band lists a lot of shoegaze influences, like My Bloody Valentine and the Stone Roses, but if I were to belittle their artistic merit with inane categorization I’d call it “Innocuous Art Rock,” meaning they lacked that careful balance between humdrum drone and ephemeral brilliance that My Bloody Valentine, for example, achieved in aces. I’d say Resplandor has potential, which isn’t meant to be condescending in the way you might call something bland “nice,” just a courteous suggestion to push forward (after all, this is certainly the genre to challenge conventions). Resplandor has a few summer dates in Toronto (NXNE music festival); Myspace or Website.
The crowd had probably doubled by the time BELL came on, an irrelevant statistic (nobody ever shows up early) that, in the moment, seemed odd, since I assumed BELL’s following would be minimal. I guess I was wrong (and also not cool).
Fellas: Olga Bell is a cutie.
Half-way through BELL’s set Kate admitted that the smiley singer’s stage persona was sort of unsettling (because she seemed happy and to be enjoying herself), a sad statement on today’s bitter frown-y music scene. Why do we find comfort in vulgarity and self-loathing? Why are pleasant, well-adjusted artists turn-offs? Something to explore in therapy, I suppose. But since music can be therapy, I will freely disclose that Bell’s smiling made me smile. So what if her clear, soaring vocals channeled early Bjork? So what, We Heart Music. BELL’s thing (her je ne sais quoi) was so charming that every snide aside I felt obligated to share just went “poof” when she pulled out that cute little mini-keytar! And, you know, the girl kind of kicked ass. Despite this being their first tour, the band sounded sharp—Bell on keyboard, doing her samples and loop-de-looping and blippity blipping, her two drummers adding a necessary and impressive rhythmic oomph—the result was effective. I know BELL inspired at least one dude in the room to shake his groove thang because he did so right behind me. If a band can make the whitest white man gyrate his hips in such an alarming, graceless, amazing way, while simultaneously drinking a pint of beer, then that band can probably say “we’ve made it.” BELL will be starting the East Coast leg of her tour at the end of April. For a full list of concert dates, visit Myspace. If you’d like to buy a copy of BELL’s EP, go here: Website.
Asobi Seksu sex you.
I’m sure I don’t need to remind Asobi Seksu fans that the band’s name roughly translates as “fun sex,” so I won’t, even though I did. Teeny tiny Yuki (small singer night!) is Asian (obvious) and they all call New York home. So, sexy name + Asian singer + New York ÷ Minnesota = A LOT of underage Asian girls + their white boyfriends. Seriously, Asian invasion. Resplandor and BELL may have brought the young and hip, but Asobi Seksu brought the fever: YELLOW FEVER. And let me tell you, Yuki rocked it. Right away the audience was treated to a full dose of pint-size fury, as Yuki thrashed about on stage, barely visible over the top of the microphone stand. The combination of her dreamy, albeit often indecipherable voice and the forceful instrumentation was impressive live (studio polish really doesn’t befit these noisy bands). It’s hard not to get wrapped up in the wave of sound, as it basically crushes that small part of your brain that responds to creative stimulation; conversely, the same effect makes it difficult to consciously distinguish one sound wave from another. A few times during the night I lost my train of listening and drifted (something that is neither good nor bad). Happily, Asobi Seksu played favorites from Citrus (i.e. “Strawberries,” “Thursday”) along with selections from their new album Hush, including the first single “Me & Mary.” The band is currently on tour. Full dates on Myspace and Website (apparently the website redirects back to Myspace). Hush is available now; purchase HERE.
* When the band introduced themselves I thought they said ‘Beirut’ instead of ‘Peru,’ so I loudly remarked “Beirut! Zach Condon eat your heart out!” or something equally tactless. Now I am embarrassed for myself.
03/24/2009 21:19:26 ♥ lara (
/lara206.vox.com) ♥ resplandor.com.pe ♥ olgabell.com ♥ asobiseksu.com
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