[...music...]: 2010-02

2010-02-22

i realized that the last time i saw owen pallett play as final fantasy, it was four years ago.

on saturday night, he played a sold out show at théâtre outremont, as part of the montreal high lights festival. i went with cynthia and manna.

i got to the venue early; second in line. started chatting with the first guy in line, who came from boston for the night, for the show. that's some dedicated fan. and he's only been into owen pallett's stuff since last fall.

it turned out to be a seated show, which was nice and comfortable for this kind of music. of course, we got very good seats, front and centre. during the wait, i chatted some more with the guy from boston, who gave me a list of bands to check out.

the opening act was diamond rings. i had never heard of this guy before, so what a surprise when he appeared on stage: half-shaven head, dramatic eye makeup, face glitter, denim jacket with back patch, chunky silver belt, leopard print leggings, purple socks, purple hi-tops. this guy is a cliché of the late-70's/early 80's punk/new wave style; i doubt he was even born at the time. he punched the air for dramatic effect, and busted out some awkward 80's dance moves.

the music was pretty good, consisting of either synth or guitar, with a catchy beat. his act is so kitsch that it's full of awesome.

owen pallet's act was introduced with a clip of an alicia keys song. haha, it set the tone for the night, i guess.

he was accompanied by guitarist/percussionist thomas gill:

as always, i was impressed by the way he plays the violin: playing into a loop pedal, building a song layer by layer, plucking and tapping the strings, tapping the body for a percussions effect, even yelling into his violin for those faraway-sounding vocals.

i love that he mixed his set with old and new songs. he played most of my favourites, such as "this lamb sells condos":

as well as "e is for estranged", which ended abruptly when he pressed the wrong button and everything stopped. "oops," he said, and shrugged it off.

during the encore, when he started with the first few beats of the second song, i internally skrieked like a little girl. mariah carey's "fantasy" is a guilty pleasure, a song i loved so much when i was a little girl that i learned the lyrics and everything. and he does a really good cover of that.

he ended the show with a second encore, playing "he poos clouds", a song that makes me think of chase scenes in video games set in medieval times.

setlist:
love song to an empty room
midnight directives
this lamb sells condos
flare gun
the butcher
many lives -> 49 mp
took you two years to win my heart
e is for estranged
this is the dream of win & regine
keep the dog quiet
mt. alpentine
the great elsewhere
honour the dead or else
lewis takes action
lewis takes off his shirt

encore:
the man with no ankles
fantasy (mariah carey cover)

encore 2:
he poos clouds

~~~

Labels: diamond rings, owen pallett, shows, théâtre outremont

2010-02-21

dollar bin

i didn't think "dollar" bins still existed, but i saw one at hmv when i was there earlier this week. i know it looks a little pathetic, but i did spend some time digging through the piles, which consisted mostly of: awful rap albums, abstract artsy fartsy nondescript albums, and dated dance albums.

out of all that, i found these:

yes, for a dollar each. to be honest, i didn't know much about these albums, but at that price, i thought i'd give them a try.

the dandy warhols - are sound

this album is in fact the original mix of their 2003 release "welcome to the monkey house", which i already have. as a casual listener, "are sound" feels redundant. meh. i'll have to listen to the two back-to-back for comparison.

nic endo - cold metal perfection

i was expecting some digital hardcore, similar to her work with atari teenage riot. but it turned out to be more ambient/experimental. the kind of background music you'd hear at some art installation.

the cd includes the video for "white heat". it's so awesome, i must link to it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bN14upNp6U

~~~

Labels: cd purchase, nic endo, the dandy warhols

2010-02-19

scratch my back

impulse purchase.

since january, i've been watching l'univers musiqueplus almost daily. on tuesday's episode, during le débat critique, co-host nicolas tittley presented peter gabriel's most recent release "scratch my back", describing it as "un album de reprises qui ne suce pas".

i had never listened to peter gabriel's music before, nor his stuff with genesis, so i am unfamiliar with his material. but after checking out his cover of regina spektor's "après moi", it was enough for me to get this cd.

it's very nice. the string arrangements are beautiful.

my favourite track is "après moi". i am including the original here for comparison.

peter gabriel - après moi

regina spektor - après moi

after listening to the whole album, another track that i like is "my body is a cage". to be honest, i like it even more than the original version.

peter gabriel - my body is a cage

arcade fire - my body is a cage

~~~

Labels: cd purchase, peter gabriel

2010-02-16

heligoland

massive attack's first studio album in seven years, "heligoland", was released last week.