Call me cynical, but a good controversy has always helped sales in the entertainment world.
This is somehwat different when Google-owned YouTube outright rejected Perfume Genius' 16-second promo clip for "promoting mature sexual themes" and being "not family safe."
I can think of way more overtly offensive clips bandied about without so much a blink of an eye.
Ex-R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe has weighed in claiming the decision dumbheaded, further adding "I find their actions in doing so disgraceful and cowardly. YouTube, shame on you. You were born of the 21st Century, now act like it." Hear, hear!!
Not many bands can boast having a multi-octave, falsetto-singing harpist as a frontman.
There are two sides to the band Active Child: One of earlier material heavily infuenced by 80's New Wave electropop ala New Order / Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and; the more recent, maturer, R&B-tinged soul-chamber-pop.
When Pat Grossi unexpectedly joined the audience during support act Caitlin Park's set and stood beside me, I froze not knowing what to say.
In between songs, I managed to tell him that they were my favourite newcomer of 2011; that I really enjoyed the album; found out that he was born in Philadelphia and now based in LA; offered him a drink to which he politely declined; and wished him a good show.
In hindsight, I should have requested an interview!!
Performing tracks from their Curtis Lane EP and You Are All I See LP, the evening was filled with beautifully uplifting and hypnotic songs balanced by boppy danceable electro numbers.
As part of Sydney Festival 2012, Lambchop is heading to our shores to kickstart what must surely be a big year for them.
Not content to just front his band, Kurt Wagner is making the most of his trip by also appearing in 2 gigs as one half of KORT (with Cortney Tidwell as his partner-in-crime) promoting their 2010 effort, Invariable Heartache; as well as running a solo sideshow.
Primed to release their 11th studio album, Mr. M on 21st Feb 2012, I'm excited to hear some new tracks live prior to the album's release.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Concert Review: Sydney Recital Hall (21/1/2012)
It was a night of beautiful and delicate songs which was seriously marred by heavy handed sound mixing at the soundboard.
Kurt Wagner's soft dulcet tones was instead over-amped and over-reverbed to the point of sounding boomy but distant; as though trapped in an echo chamber next door. Much of the instruments were accorded the same fate except for the drummer who sounded present and accounted for.
Hopefully the band sounded better elsewhere in the recital hall (I was seated on level 3).
One of the my most beloved bands which bowed out at the top of ther game with a concert at Madison Square Garden (No less) on 2/4/2011, has compiled their video footage into a documentary directed by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace (Pulse Films Limited) and is now an entry in the Sundance Film Festival 22/1/2012.
Hopefully this will be followed by a DVD and "Best of" release...
Must admit that I was late onto this marvellous album by Jonathan Wilson (Would definitely have made my Top 50).
Born in North Carolina, 1974, Jonathan was part of short-lived band Muscadine and has an unreleased solo album Frankie Ray (2007).
But mainly, he has rubbed shoulders and aligned himself with luminaries such as Wilco, Roy Harper, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Jackson Browne, Barry Goldberg, Chris Robinson, Gary Louris, Andy Cabic, Gary Mallaber, Z Berg, Johnathan Rice;
all the while amassing a vast selection of musical instruments, building his studio "Five Star" and steadfastly waiting for a recording contract which didn't mean signing his life away.
Largely sung with hushed harmonies, the melodies hark back to LA circa late 60's and early 70's when life was unhurried. Even the length of the tracks suggest a time when people had longer attention span.
Personally, the sassy chord progressions recall Steely Dan while hamonies bring to mind a guilty pleasure ~ England Dan & John Ford Coley! (Please don't ask me how my mind works...)
Just when you've tagged the album Easy-listening and settled comfortably into your armchair, along comes electronic glitches which confound and trips up the hazy dream with a hint of nightmare...
Scratch beneath the surface, and you'll find complex arrangements with sudden shifts in time signatures.
In fact, some of it occasionally gets pushed to the fore and you are confronted by some serious avant-jazz
folk-psych-blues guitar noodling.
Production is always sun-drenched warm and earthy.
Indeed, it's this beguiling tightrope push-pull which imbues the album a sense of timelessness.
Voted amongst most "Best Albums of 2011" lists:
Mojo (#4)
Uncut (#16) and also named New Artist of the Year.
2012 was ushered in with a bang and an even bigger bang for those who attended The Resolution Concert @ Glebe Island featuring Pet Shop Boys, Jamiroquai and a returning Culture Club...
As for me, Fleet Foxes @ The Sydney Opera House (2/1/2012) kickstarted the year with sublime songs harmonised to perfection...
Upcoming Concerts:
Beirut Sydney Opera House 5/1/2012
Lambchop Sydney Recital Hall 21/1/2012
Active Child Oxford Art Factory 29/1/2012
The Horrors The Metro Theatre 2/2/2012
Portugal. The Man The Metro Theatre 7/2/2012
My Morning Jacket The Enmore Theatre 3/4/2012
Considering:
Battles The Metro Theatre 23/1/2012
Feist The Enmore Theatre 7/2/2012 (Clashes with Portugal. The Man)
