This past Wednesday night I saw Wolf Parade play First Avenue. No, strike that. I saw them ROCK First Avenue. Yes. Rock. In fact, as I sit here writing this short post three days later, I can't quit listening to them on iTunes and I keep replaying bits from the show in my head.
Their set list bounced in between songs from Apologies To The Queen Mary and At Mount Zoomer
perfectly to create a soundtrack to the evening that cascaded into an
encore that left me wired and starving for more. I can't remember the
last time I left a show so energized. Standouts from the night were certainly the closing of the main set with "Kissing The Beehive" and the second to last song of the encore, "I'll Believe In Anything."
A friend I've made through Twitter put it perfectly, "They're just a straight-up killer rock band -- the kind that makes you
realize as you're watching them that you're raising your fist and
hollering like you did when you went to your first great rock show as
kid." Their energy and passion for their music is contagious. You can feel it as they play.
The close of the iTunes review for Apologies To The Queen Mary says, "Have you heard of Wolf Parade? They'll change your life." With a slight change, that statement becomes pretty true for what I experienced on Wednesday night...
Have you seen Wolf Parade live? They'll change your life,
Over time, The National has become a band I greatly appreciate. Each time I listen to them, I seem to hear something new - finding a new layer to a song or sensing deeper meaning to the lyrics. Anyway, really enjoyed this track and video, so thought I'd share here.
The Interpol video earlier in the week had me listening to them some, which made me also listen to Editors a bit. That led me back to this video, which I quite enjoy. Anyway... here you go.
My latest favorite addition to the music library? Without a doubt, Fleet Foxes. They're getting greatwrite-ups and deservedly so. I know I can't stop listening to them.
Their EP, Sun Giant, is five songs full of gorgeous harmonies and lush melodies that leave you craving more. Thankfully, they've got a full-length album coming out June 3rd. Currently they're on tour in Europe and will be coming back to the States in late June, hitting the Twin Cities on July 20th (according to their MySpace page).
For my friends reading this in San Fran, Denver, Chicago, Boston & New York, here are your dates:
Last night The Jealous Girlfriends, Grand Archives and Most Serene Republic played The Entry. It was one of the very few times I have ever seen all three bands on one bill. I have to say I enjoyed all of them, but by far the highlight of the evening for me, as it appeared to be for many others as well, was the Grand Archives performance in the second slot.
Being a fan of Mat Brooke's two priorbands, I had been looking forward to a full-length album since first reading about them in Pitchfork last year. Then when looking through the show listings for various venues in town back in January and seeing that they were coming to town, I was a bit excited.
While all of the band members harmonize on vocals in addition to playing their instruments, it was primarily Mat and Ron Lewis (formerly of Ghost Stories, Joggers and Mines) leading the charge on vocals with Mat taking the lead most often. The same was true for their interactions with the crowd which were humorous, self-deprecating and genuine.
The band played through their songs at a good pace, having fun being on stage and truly enjoying playing their music for others to hear. It was my first time at The Entry and I fell fortunate to have been able to see them there. At the end of their set, everyone in the audience was asking for a couple more songs, but being in the second slot and out of time, the guys were unable to oblige. We'll just have to wait for another time, and likely a larger venue, to hear more of them in person.
Since getting The Grand Archives back in early February, it has been on heavy rotation. Now after seeing their live show, it will only continue to be so. (As a matter of fact, it's playing right now in a mix with Band of Horses, S and Carissa's Wierd in my iTunes.) If you don't have The Grand Archives yet, take a listen to one of the below places where it's streaming and if you're into it, support these guys by purchasing it at your favorite music store or site. They're very deserving of it in my opinion.
Before purchasing the DVD, I probably watched this trailer a good dozen or so times in anticipation of getting my copy in the mail. So yesterday afternoon when I saw that, Sigur Rós had taken over the home page of YouTube, with the main feature being that they've posted the entire 97-plus minutes of their Heima film, I was very, very happy for them to get this kind of exposure.
While I can't understand a single word of the Icelandic language, I find their music to be some of the most emotive and beautiful art I've ever experienced. Additionally, I think the film is gorgeous, inspiring and very telling about what a generous and humble band Sigur Rós is. If you can't tell, yes, they're one of my favorites. Anyway...
SIGUR ROS YouTube Global Takeover Friday March 7 1:39pm Thursday, Mar 6
Sigur Ros and YouTube make a little bit of history this Friday (Mar 7) with the band taking over the entire front page of the site around the world for a whole day, becoming the first group to ever have a feature-length music DVD streamed on the channel, with their acclaimed ‘Heima’ documentary shown in its complete 97- minute glory.
All 12 available slots on YouTube’s home page will be devoted to the Icelandic quartet for a full 24-hours, putting them before a global audience of hundreds of millions. The link-up follows the success of ‘Minn Heima’, a competition hosted by YouTube (http:// www.youtube.com/group/MinnHeima) for fans of the band to create their own little version of ‘Heima’, using audio and video clips posted online. The 10 best entries, as judged by the band, will be featured on the home page, alongside the film itself, as well as a special message from the band, taking time off from recording their new album in Reykjavik.
YouTube has only previously hosted a handful of long form presentations, none for music DVDs. It is the first ever UK home page “takeover” since the launch of http://uk.youtube.com – the localized home page that allows for country-specific video rankings and comments.
Simultaneous with the YouTube promotion, the band will launch www.sigurros.com, giving away a free audio-visual download clip of the song ‘Ny Batteri’ filmed live in Reykjavik in the the summer of 2006 as part of the Heima tour. ‘Ny Batteri’ is just one of a dozen additional songs not featured in the film that the band are intending to make available via the site in the near future. Information about the forthcoming album will also be revealed via www.sigurros.com.
To see all of what they posted now that the takeover is complete, simply jump to their YouTube page. And if you're a fan of Sigur Rós, I highly suggest that you pick up a copy of the DVD. It's well worth it.
Grand Archives (Live)
Last night The Jealous Girlfriends, Grand Archives and Most Serene Republic played The Entry. It was one of the very few times I have ever seen all three bands on one bill. I have to say I enjoyed all of them, but by far the highlight of the evening for me, as it appeared to be for many others as well, was the Grand Archives performance in the second slot.
Being a fan of Mat Brooke's two prior bands, I had been looking forward to a full-length album since first reading about them in Pitchfork last year. Then when looking through the show listings for various venues in town back in January and seeing that they were coming to town, I was a bit excited.
While all of the band members harmonize on vocals in addition to playing their instruments, it was primarily Mat and Ron Lewis (formerly of Ghost Stories, Joggers and Mines) leading the charge on vocals with Mat taking the lead most often. The same was true for their interactions with the crowd which were humorous, self-deprecating and genuine.
The band played through their songs at a good pace, having fun being on stage and truly enjoying playing their music for others to hear. It was my first time at The Entry and I fell fortunate to have been able to see them there. At the end of their set, everyone in the audience was asking for a couple more songs, but being in the second slot and out of time, the guys were unable to oblige. We'll just have to wait for another time, and likely a larger venue, to hear more of them in person.
Since getting The Grand Archives back in early February, it has been on heavy rotation. Now after seeing their live show, it will only continue to be so. (As a matter of fact, it's playing right now in a mix with Band of Horses, S and Carissa's Wierd in my iTunes.) If you don't have The Grand Archives yet, take a listen to one of the below places where it's streaming and if you're into it, support these guys by purchasing it at your favorite music store or site. They're very deserving of it in my opinion.
Related note 1: My photo set from last night.
Related note 2: Video of Most Serene Republic singing (Oh) God here.
Related note 3: A great review and Flickr photo set of the CD launch party for Grand Archives at The Triple Door in Seattle, which included opening performances by Mat's former Carissa's Wierd bandmates, Jenn Ghetto (S) and Sera Cahoone.
Related note 4: An article from the Seattle Times when the band was first getting noticed that's a good read.
Grandarchives.com | MySpace | Last.fm | iTunes | Amazon
08 March 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)