glasvegas [live]

glasvegas
opening: ida maria
saturday, march 28, 2009 – 8pm (happy birthday mom!)
music hall / williamsburg
brooklyn, new york

glasvegas and i go way back.  as far as one can go backwith glasvegas, which is about a year.  glasvegas is an alternative rock band from scotland and they are fresh, hot, and here to stay.  wedding planning did not allow for many concert going this spring, though i do make my exceptions, but i knew i had to see glasvegas.  ticket prices were more than reasonable so i took advantage of the opportunity.

in an effort to pennypinch, i gave up certain music-related luxuries, including music downloads, concerts, music paraphernalia, and, of course, Q magazine.  Q magazine, hands down, the best music magazine in the world.  and it was in none other than Q that i read about glasvegas, who they touted as one of the best up and coming bands in UK and scotland.  they described glasvegas as anthem rock/stunning vocals/thick wall of sound “productioneering” type of a band.  i thought, hey, why not.  then began my quest to get my dirty little hands on some glasvegas music – but to no avail.  i waited a bit and amazon.com started to release them one by one and i bought every last glasvegas song that was available for commercial purchase.  yes, all THREE of them.  i did not even bother with itunes since i had boycotted them for some time (ok, i did try and to no surprise, they did not have any music by glasvegas).  but did they have every single possible imaginable playlist whipped up by some random angst-ridden teenager in wichita falls?  yes.

listening to glasvegas was fun.  whether on headphones or surround sounds speaker system at home (which i so don’t have at home) you have to listen to it with the volume up up up.  it’s meant for walking tall down a big boulevard on a sunny day and driving with the top down on a summer night.

but when the band came up on stage, did i expect the lead singer james allan to look SO MUCH like joe strummer and elvis presley combined?!  no!!  prior to the concert, i had not known what the band members look like, so you can imagine my surprise when the band first came out.  then it got all distracting because all i can think about ‘jimmy jazz’ and ‘wrong em boyo.’

admittedly, due to their heavy scottish accent (or, scottish accent at all), there are some glasvegas songs whose words i simply cannot even understand.  my own fault, of course, seeing as how i have difficulty even with british accent sometimes which can be troublesome as i work for a german company with tons of london staffers.  anyway, the beauty of a song that is ‘it’s my own cheating heart that makes me cry’ has every potential to make me cry or force me into admit cheating, but i have no idea what the beautiful singer is saying!  but that is perfectly fine because his strong, long-range vocals are just amazing.

watching the band was an enjoyable experience.  they seemed to take themselves reasonably seriously – not too much, but not too relaxed/stoned either.  i always remember interpol concert back in 2005 when they played at madison square garden in new york city; they were the most serious band i have ever seen – so focused, so precise, so scientific.  they did not say more than 15 words to the crowd (hello, we are interpol and we are from new york, thank you for coming out tonight.)  and then there have been bands that look so careless and/or drunk/stoned on stage that it used to piss me off because i was spending all this money to see them give the audience a rock star-quality concert but instead i am not even able to decipher what they are trying to do/say.  point is, glasvegas and bloc party from the week before seemed to give a lot of effort into their performance to deliver a very decent show for their fans.  and, as fans, there is nothing much more we ask for. 

i often wondered what it was about glasvegas that set them apart from other bands.  though i do not track bands nearly as much i used to, i don’t have to look far to see how many new bands up pop up all the time.  look no further than amazon/itunes’ free mp3 giveaway list, an issue of any music mag, or heck, the songs featured on the o.c. or gossip girl, for that matter – it is not hard to find a new ‘up and coming band’ pop up and rise into recognition. 

at the risk of pumping up this band too much, i wonder why this band from scotland, to me anyway, rises above the rest to deserve the title of ‘one of the freshest, most exciting bands to enter the music scene.’  their songwriting is good.  not the best, but very good.  but i think it’s the big venue belting vocals, layered guitar sounds, 80s style drumming in some songs, and friendly melodies.  their sound is rich, thick, and sweet.  it really is hard to press the skip button when their songs are on.

my choices of glasvegas songs:
- daddy’s gone
- flowers and football tops
- it’s my own cheating heart that makes me cry (unintelligible words!  had to look them up!)
- geraldine

bloc party [live]

bloc party
opening: longwave
tuesday, march 24, 2009 – 8pm
terminal 5
new york, new york

i’ve long wanted to see bloc party in concert.  pretty much after they arrived at the alternative music scene back in 2004-2005, i’ve been intrigued by this energetic, explosive group from london.

back then, having been more “into” the indie music circuit, i remember the hype around this band.  it’s one of those things about the underground (if you can call it that, since i don’t really know what exactly makes underground ‘underground) music scene that i don’t understand – why some bands like the strokes and bloc party get so much anticipation.  different than an artist who gets word out about his/her music, or, more importantly, about him/herself, via social networking sites like myspace, having the standard industry hypes works both for and against the up and coming artist.  they have the advantage of p.r. but they also have a lot to live up to.

some critics like to be critical for the sake of doing so, but some praisers like to laud for the sake of doing so.  regardless, i think for the purposes of this post here, it’s safe to say that bloc party clearly lived up to their hype.

and they are here to stay.

and boy am i glad they are.  so were ali, jean, and albert.

after a few failed attempts to catch them in new york city, including last october when they were on a short impromptu-type tour, i finally got a hold of not 1, not 2, but 4 tickets!  i knew i would have no trouble getting rid of my 3 extra tickets.  the night before, i thought about what i was going to wear.  i work in an investment bank and work in a very corporate environment, and there is nothing i hate more than looking like someone who works in that very environment at a cool concert like that of bloc party’s.  so i packed my clothes: jeans, t-shirt, hoodie, jacket.

the cover band, longwave, was, to me, forgettable, so i’ll get to the main course.  kele burst into the scene wearing red adidas track jacket and pants!  he looked so adorable and fresh!  he had his famous megawatt smile and truly looked happy to be in new york city!  we were happy to have him in new york city, too!  matt came out in a really bad pair of shorts and a t-shirt which i knew he was going to remove (i was hoping he wouldn’t, but he, of course, did), russell and ‘the hair’ came on stage and looked like a meerkat as usual (in a good way!), and gordon moakes showed up, hair tousled, face white, and lips naturally pink.

they started with one month off and there was so much energy in the crowd.  median age 26, evenly distributed btw guys and girls, everyone was out to have a good time.  the mosh pit eventually grew from small to big, slight to violent.  i used the heavy guy at my 10 o’clock to shield me from the impact of the moshers.  kele seemed to like getting the crowd riled up and was asking them to show a little more craziness as the night wore on.  i always wonder whether performers on stage can see their audience, but i am not sure if i’d like seeing my fans get slammed.

the crowd was really got going the band was showing them a mighty good time: their music was perfectly played, vocals solid, drumming perfect. every band member was so focused, and i am almost tempted to say they seemed beyond their years.  at the same time, they are one of the most energetic bands i have seen and they produce one of the most exciting music out there.  consistently exciting and inventive, they are fabulous.  interpol was one of the most focused and ‘professional’ band i have seen, but these guys were up there.

kele is one charismatic band leader.  his energy is infectious and people do not take their eyes off of him.  blessed with fresh looks, good height, cool hair, and clothes that hang nicely on a tall frame of a body, he is a lot of fun to watch.  he played rhythm guitar once in awhile but spent most of his effort on singing his heart out, except during slower songs like ’signs.’  but he was interacting with the crowd the entire time and enjoying the attention with no sense of shame whatsoever.  a true performer, what can i say? i said to A after the concert – radical, i know, but i think he is the charismatic band leader that this generation has been waiting for.  you watch old concert clips with band leaders who, by themselves and their merit, light up the stage.  you got bono, freddie mercury, blondie, diana ross, prince, even marilyn manson! – and nowadays, you got pretty boys with no charisma like brandon flowers, adam levine, and justin timberlake – and i’m like come on now!  no offense if you like those boys, but time we had some electrifying, grab-your-attention by the throat kind of performers.  after all, that IS why they get paid to do what they do, right?!

but here are the reasons why i like bloc party.  just my reasons and no one else’s.  in music, here are the elements i love: beats (new order), inspiring bass guitar sounds (the pixies!!), well-programmed sounds (new order, beastie boys), electronic music (new wave, synth, chemical brothers), rhythmic guitar riffs (the clash, the strokes), melodic jingle jangly guitar sounds (johnny marr, the smiths, the clash),  and i love a good voice (freddie mercury, morrissey, dave gahan, damon albarn, andy bell, chris cornell, the lead singer of Live, axl rose), ‘the only girl in the band’ (d’arcy of smashing pumpkins, kim deal of the pixies, the chick from glasvegas, gillian of new order!) – so the more of these in a band, the more likely i’ll like them!  this is why i like bloc party!

here is the set list – what a night!

one month off – excellent start
trojan horse - energy, energy, energy!  one of the better songs from the new album
hunting for witches - i love the intro to this song… the bleeps and bloops remind me of radiohead and the beat that starts up is just…so much fun.
positive tension – not one of my favorites – gave me some time to relax…
signs – beautiful song, sounds best with a good pair of headphones… gordon played the xylophone, i saw it!
waiting for the 7.18 - another charming song… i remember listening to this song when i was in korea
song for clay (disappear here) – truly made album #2 memorable…good falsetto by kele… i like how even the guitars harmonize
banquet - THE song that made the band… probably their #1 hit next to helicopter. first time i saw them performing was on my lap on the NME video website.  and i thought “COOL….”  that cool rhythm guitar!  tried to get my little sis into bloc party with this song i think… still working on it. 
where is home? -
ion square – kele “this is a song about being in love” – all perfect except for the distasteful F-word…
mercury – “mercury’s in retrograde!  mercury’s in retrograde!”  so much fun. this an extremely creative, radical, exciting song.  there must be about dozen instruments represented here!  i love the big beats in the background.
so here we are – how pretty is that intro?  the bass enters, the vocals tune in… it’s great… “i caught a glimpse, but its been forgotten. So here we are again.  i made a vow, to carry you home…”
like eating glass – another song that made me go whoa on the NME site… that cool intro accompanied by a sliding image… it was unforgettable.  gotta find that link again! a song like this really makes bloc party bloc party.

encore:
halo - good song
prayer - intense
flux - cool
helicopter - another song that made them big.  this song reminds of albert for some reason!  this song has some serious ’stay in my head for 72 hours’ power… “duh duh duh dun, north to south, empty! running on – bravado!”

encore 2:
ares - we were totally making fun of this song when we were waiting in line outside
this modern love - one of my favorite bloc party songs

they were so much fun to watch.  it was very loud, very roudy, very HOT, but it was a good time!

that decreases the number of bands on my ”list of bands to see before i die” by one.  one other i will see this summer (depeche mode on august 4) and i doubt that i will get the see the rest of them, but if you ever see tickets on sale for these guys, do let me know: new order, the smiths, the pixies, aimee mann, jeff buckley, blur, radiohead, the raconteurs, red hot chili peppers…

PLEASE leave me messages – i’d love to hear what you think!

five Peanuts – solid.

from a previous life

a long, long time ago, i uploaded some of these songs for my readers to enjoy.  no reviews on them, but, clearly, the fact that i’ve handpicked them is an indication that i think they’re pretty cool.  enjoy.

http://audio.xanga.com/beans79

‘glasvegas’ by glasvegas (2008)

review to come shortly

‘ode to j.smith’ by travis (2008)

review to come shortly…

beans’ tribute to those resting in peace

this is a post with a sad theme – musicians who have passed. passed at a young age. tragically. unexpectedly. accidentally. this is my tribute to them. jeff buckley, eva cassidy, rich mullins, keith green: all born before me, all died sometime in my lifetime.

jeff was born in 1966 and died in 1997 at age 30 (drowned in a lake while vacationing)
eva was born in 1963 and died in 1996 at age 33(died of cancer)
rich was born in 1955 and died in 1997 at age 41 (died in an automobile accident)
keith was born in 1953 and died in 1982 at age 28 (died in a plane crash)

when i listen to the music of these beautiful artists, i am always filled with thinking what a tragedy it was that they had to die at such a young age, all of them at the height of their career (except eva who gained international recognition through recordings that were distributed postumously.

jeff buckley – neither jeff buckley nor eva cassidy had extensive recordings or releases. in fact, i do not even own a single album of eva’s. i listen to all her songs on youtube or on my internet playlist. jeff buckley’s grace is not an album i can listen to without feeling sad…and without feeling an air of eeriness around me. his voice is clear and haunting; it’s perfect and beautiful. when i listen to these songs, i must turn up the volume and concentrate:
- dream brother
- grace (haunting…)
- lover, you should have come over (from 5:06 until the end of the song when he sings ‘ohhh….ohhh…’ is so beautiful)
- last goodbye (must be turned up loud to hear the nice bass lines)
- leonard cohen’s ‘hallelujah’ (beautiful guitars, nice lyrics)

jamie cullum is a decent artist, but when i heard his attempt at ‘lover,’ i wanted to hurl. do not attempt jeff buckley. ever. again.

eva cassidy - a then little-known singer based in DC, this songwriter who had the voice of an angel left behind some beautiful recording for the world to enjoy… perhaps a little too late. at a young age, she succumbed to skin cancer and left the world mourning. i do not know much about eva except her music. i don’t even know of that many, but the ones that i have heard (mostly on youtube, if you can believe it), i have been mesmerized by her pure, soulful, and passionate voice. recommended tracks:

- songbird http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFFo1pu4q7Q
- autumn leaves http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7-haKkFnT8
- over the rainbow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUwTdqPkluY

keith green - i hate to admit it (and feel like a bad sport for saying so), but i do not like most modern christian music out there. i like worship and praise songs, but i do like ccm, for the most part. once in awhile, i do like to go back to very old christian tunes like those of keith green. the songs were so simple and almost childlike, if i may say that. he also suffered a tragic, sudden death – a plane crash that killed him and his two young children as well. recommended tracks:

- make my life a prayer to you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNww8F6G9U8
- there is a redeemer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hVTcS_8oN4&feature=related
- you are the one! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrPEpG5o0Ko

rich mullins – another brilliant singer, songwriter, and certainly a performer. best known for ‘awesome god’ and ’sometimes by step,’ these songs were definitive songs in my life as a young christian when i was in junior high and high school. though i do not listen to much of them, i have come to really appreciate mullins’ many songs about the great country that is the US and his love for it. his songs challenge me to think big and remember that the God i worship is a really, really big God.  this man is a true poet, a true songwriter in the purest sense of the word:

- sometimes by step http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-b7TQMoZsM
- calling out your name http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaNwTYJrYtA

fran healy @ housing works, new york city

no exaggeration here. this gig – starting with randomly stumbling upon a page on travisonline.com, to scoring three $20 tickets, to getting in a line that moved along so fast, to being in the midst of a most civilized crowd, to being given free beer, to finding out about a great organization located in the heart of the city serving the needs of those living with the HIV virus, to enjoying one of the most intimate and heartfelt gigs i have ever been to – made for one of the best concert experiences.

fran healy, what a show. what a class act. what a lovely, wonderful evening of music, friends, family, and fun. i found out about this gig online while browsing through music blogs. my little sis, a rabid fan of travis (myself being the ravenous one), and i had been anticipating the release of ‘ode to j. smith,’ the scottish quartet’s 6th full length album 1st or 2nd week of november, depending on what side of the atlantic ocean you’re on. upon finding out that the magic number was 11/4, we decided to wait til the weekend to download the album. we also found out about the fran healy gig, surprisingly not a travis one, so i acted fast.

i have been to all but 1 or 2 major concert venues in new york city, but not to housing works bookstore cafe on crosby and houston, just a block away from the puck building on lafayette. i had been there once before after a career fair in my junior or senior year at nyu, which was, incidentally, held at the puck bldg to grab a cup of coffee and a brownie. but it was my first time there as a concert goer. it was a lovely venue for a small, intimate acoustic session. and small and intimate it was. fran, wife, and baby and a small entourage of friends strolled in just as the opening act was wrapping up. lil sis and i were oogling in anticipation, wondering what he was doing, when he was going to make his way toward the stage, and what he was going to sing. most of all, we were anxious to see his stage presence. not just any stage, but a stage where the first row audience was no more than 7-8 feet away from him and his guitar.

he walked up the stage, tuned his guitar a bit, and just started singing and playing. it was brilliant. he said he’d sing songs in succession according the date of the album release and nobody had a problem with that. i have never seen so many smiles in a room. he started with ‘i just wanna rock and roll’ and went on to sing songs from ‘the man who’ and ‘the invisible band.’ by the time he got to ‘driftwood’ and ‘flowers in the window,’ the room was just beaming with excitement. fran healy has such a wonderful sense of humor and, though i cannot understand every word he says (i am horrible with thick british, scottish accents), i sensed a self-deprecation, humble kind of humor, which i absolutely love in people.

he went on to play all the goodness that is travis tunes. it was too cool to hear live all these songs…so many of these songs that have been listening to for such a long time and SO MANY TIMES. what i love is that all these songs point to fond memories in my life… in my early 20s as a fresh out of college grad starting out in the real world…finding myself and just having some fun.

one of the funniest moments had to have been when he earnestly began the song ‘flowers in the window’ and when he began singing “When I first felt you I was cold…” he was totally off key and he realized the capo was on when it should not have been! Haha! He totally cracked up and started over again. It was super adorable! Hahaha…

Set list:
-All I Wanna do is rock
-Turn
-Writing to Reach You
-Driftwood
-Blue Flashing Light
-Flowers in the Window
-Sing
-Indefinitely
-Love Will Come Through
-Closer
-My Eyes
-Friends
-Song to Self
Encores: I Kissed a Girl (yes, you read correctly!! ewwww…) and ‘Side.’

that was the set list.  i doubt that he’ll ever play a set like that ever again unless he ‘drops in’ on visits like this.  i am looking forward to their u.s. tour, which is due to be in feb or march according to the insiders.  still to come on musicbybeans: some kickbutt clips that my sister took on my trusty digital camera. 

please visit housing works on 126 crosby street between houston and prince.  they have a wide variety of books, music, and even food (coffee, beer).

and don’t forget to download your very own copy of the latest travis:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_dmusic_3_7?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=travis+ode+to+j+smith&sprefix=travis+&sprefix=travis+&sprefix=travis+&sprefix=travis+&sprefix=travis+&sprefix=travis+

‘london calling’ by the clash (1979)

there is only a handful of albums out there that deserve as much credit as “london calling” by the clash for having the kind of influence that it did.  this album is so diverse, so high-quality, so unique, and so much fun.  it consistently makes best album lists, as well as most influential album ones.  it was given a hearty A+ by robert christgau and a full 10 by pitchforkmedia.  my novice music reviews don’t really do any justice to it, but let’s just say i have spent an entire saturday afternoon, like 4 hours of it, reading, where only 5 ‘london calling’ songs were playing over and over and over again.  i kept it on loop and i did not mind when ‘elevator, going up!’ (‘koka kola’) or the jangle intro of ‘the right profile’ came on for the 9th time.

strummer and jones were a match made in heaven.  they were a magical writing/singing duo that really just got their stuff right.  according to wiki,

“Their record label’s A&R director dubbed them “The Only British Band That Matters,” which fans picked up and transformed into “The Only Band That Matters”. “ 

i think that’s pretty cool.  i like any band that can juggle multiple genres of music and make every single song sound GOOD.  and the clash was able to do that with punk, reggae, rockabilly, and ska.

if you’re remotely interested, the five songs were:
- jimmy jazz
- the right profile (i LOVE this!)
- spanish bomb
- rudie can’t fail
- clampdown

not on this album, but on their equally famous and influential albums, others songs to check out include:
- rock the casbah (controversial)
- should i stay or should i go
- janie jones

try it – you’ll actually love punk!  (even if you don’t have torn skinny jeans, chain-clad leather jacket, spiky hair… and you don’t even have to swear that sid vicious and blondie are gods.  (they’re pretty darn awesome though) 

‘a hundred million suns’ by snow patrol (2008)

review to come shortly…

but i will say briefly that i am a huge fan of the songs “lifeboats” because of its mellow, gentle tones.  and i really like “take back the city,” but my lovely younger sister says it sounds like “something you’d hear on a country station.”  hahaha that made me laugh!  we love similar music (e.g. travis, keane, peter griffin’s rendition of a-well-a-bird bird bird) but not identical, i guess!

give the album a try; it’s reminds me of their great ‘final straw’ album that i used to listen to a lot of back in 2003-ish.  their music isn’t terribly experimental or artistic, but still, they maintain a good sense of down to earthness despite the commercial success they achieved on last album.  at times, it’s a bit too slow and boring, but i do like their some of their harder, edgier songs.

‘alright, still’ by lily allen (2007)

poor lily allen – a cute young british pop star with lots of cool sounds and lots of potential, brought down to the dumps thanks to pressure to sell, sell, sell and make it big in the other side of the atlantic (read: win a grammy like her predecessor amy winehouse did).  oh yeah, and to stay thin, sober, and even more cute.  i don’t know if is a bad girl by nature or if she was just too young to know how to handle the many pressures of stardom.  but my intent is not to focus on the state of her mess right now, but just on the fun album that is ‘alright, still.’

this is where my unabashed bias towards british music becomes very obvious.  if it was any kind of pop junk they market here in the u.s. would have instantly been snubbed by me, but it’s british, so i’ll even give bubble gum pop a try (not that lily allen is bubble gum pop…she’s too explicit and perverse for that).

there is always a hot artist of the moment in the u.k.  i probably miss a good number of them since wedding-related savings has kept me from freely dishing out $10/month on Q magazine.  a lot of them never make it to this side of the pond, but the ones who do, i have always been impressed by them (amy winehouse, joss stone, coldplay).

‘alright, still’ is a fun album, but it’s not for the faint of heart or the super-conservative.  it’s an oxymoron of sorts; an early 20-something girl on a bicycle the cover with a parental advisory explicit content sticker smack right in the middle of it.  nonetheless, lily allen mixes up the album with reggae-like beats, rap, and a bunch of random beats-infused rant about pretty juvenile and crass things.  not juvenile as in getting the new video game, but as in telling off a guy at a bar.  but there is something likeable about this myspace-made songstress: perhaps it’s a combination of her nice voice and her mockney.  nah, who am i kidding?  it’s because i love london and british music.    just listen to ‘everything’s just wonderful’ and tell me you don’t love it.

here are my recommendations…fun tunes to enjoy when you’re on the road or when the last one at work on your floor:
- LDN http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfD6jAoJrJg
- everything is just wonderful  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPmH1fzZ-zk
- littlest things
- smile
- knock ‘em out

last word (another one of my obnoxious remarks): mark ronson is overrated.