[...music...]: 2009-04

2009-04-20

i went to the second night of yann tiersen's show, on saturday, at club soda, with glo, rox and a couple of her friends. this was one of the few shows where i loved the opening acts, and the main act completely surprised me by how awesome it was.

first guests were asobi seksu, a new york band who do the shoegaze/dream pop thing. they were supposed to play montreal last month, but it was cancelled (and i couldn't go anyway). about two weeks ago, i was delighted to find out that they ended up re-scheduled as openers for a show i had a ticket for; yay!

live, their music sounded more catchy, more fun. the singer has a nice ethereal voice. she was well-dressed, and wore a pair of white stilleto heels, contrasting with her dark outfit.

not familiar with their entire catalogue, i recognised the songs "thursday" and "me and mary". i would have liked to hear "i'm happy but you don't like me", but they probably didn't play it because it's too old (from the debut album). they ended their set in a noise explosion. as much as i like the band, i wondered how they fit with the rest of the bill.

la deuxième invitée de la soirée était coeur de pirate (alias de béatrice martin), une jeune artiste talentueuse et adorable; juste elle, sa voix et son clavier. une musique assez douce, un peu comme les chansons pour enfants.

"corbeau":

en plus des chansons de son album éponyme, elle a joué une nouvelle pièce inspirée par une visite à paris. elle a aussi repris la chanson "étienne d'août" de malajube, la jouant dans son style à elle. très beau. bien sur, elle a terminé avec son hit "comme des enfants".

de yann tiersen, je ne connaissais que ses compositions sur la trame sonore des films "le fabuleux destin d'amélie poulain" et "good bye lenin!", donc je m'attendais à de la musique un peu douce, avec de l'accordéon et du clavecin, très french folk.

enfin, il apparaît sur scène avec un band complet et guitare électrique en main, un look un peu grunge. ça a été un spectacle très rock, ce qui m'a beaucoup surprise, mais j'ai vraiment adoré. je ne sais trop comment décrire: c'était un peu post-rock, mais plus expérimental, avec un son plus riche.

voici un clip d'un moment calme, au violon:

et à la guitare:

je ne connaissais aucune des pièces jouées.

~~~

achat de cds: vu que les disques se vendaient beaucoup moins cher au spectacle qu'au magasin, j'en ai profité pour faire des ajouts à ma collection. d'abord, de asobi seksu, "citrus" et le plus récent "hush" (à 12$ chacun); malheureusement, ils ne vendaient pas leur album éponyme que j'aime beaucoup. ensuite, le disque de coeur de pirate (à $15). enfin, plusieurs albums de yann tiersen, "la valse des monstres", "rue des cascades", "le phare", "tout est calme" (à $15 chacun) et "les retouvailles" (à $20). un petit cadeau à moi-même, en fin d'année scolaire.

~~~

Labels: asobi seksu, cd purchase, club soda, coeur de pirate, shows, yann tiersen

2009-04-08

pierre lapointe, metric

i went to the store on tuesday to check out the new releases.

i saw a new album by pierre lapointe, "sentiments humains" accompanied by an ep "les vertiges d'en haut". hm, lots of instruments on this album, with an orchestral feel to some songs.

of the songs that stand out to me, there's the slightly waltzy "les lignes de ma main".

and "l'enfant de ma mère", since it sounds different from his previous material.

i had listened to the new metric album "fantasies" when it leaked, and liked it, but not enough to buy. at the store, they started playing the song "collect call" on the speakers, and at that moment, i thought it was so good. i decided to get it as well.

~~~

Labels: cd purchase, metric, pierre lapointe

2009-04-01

los campesinos! @ la sala rossa

it's been more than a year since i've been to a show by myself.

the opening act was sky larkin. i had not heard of them before. to me, they sounded like typical indie rock stuff. a couple of really catchy songs.

i was really excited about seeing los campesinos! play, especially since i had missed their show at cafe campus last year (a venue that singer gareth hinted wasn't so nice). their music is so cheerful and full of energy, and their live set was no different. i love the guy-girl vocals, the way the guy singer always seems to sing just slightly off-key, the full-band shouts, the prominent use of glockenspiel, etc... at one point, guitarist tom tried to say a few french sentences, something about his mother being a french teacher.

one song that really got the crowd moving was "you! me! dancing!". it's quite clever, how that song has an epic build-up culmintaing in an explosion of sound, at the beginning of the song, such that thoughout the song, it's pretty much a dancing frenzy. (well, it was a dancing frenzy by indie show standards.)

setlist:
ways to make it through the wall
the international tweexcore underground
documented minor emotional breakdown #1
my year in lists
drop it doe eyes
death to los campesinos!
miserabilia
"hahaha, we destroyed..."
knee deep at atp
all your kayfabe friends
you! me! dancing!
we are beautiful, we are doomed
sweet dreams, sweet cheeks

encore:
broken heartbeats sound like breakbeats

for the encore, they did that diy-basement-show thing of playing in the middle of the crowd.

i had gotten to the venue early, and found a prime spot in the front row. just before the los campesinos set, an art student/wannabe photographer muscled her way right next to me. throughout most of the set, she was pretty much in my face with her big fancy camera, taking countless pictures of the band, from every angle possible. ugh.

~~~

cd purchase: i got their non-album single "the international tweexcore underground".

hearing damage: although the show didn't seem loud at all, my right ear was ringing all night.

~~~

Labels: cd purchase, la sala rossa, los campesinos, shows