Listen Up 2013! / Jan Report

One month in and the music weather report looks good.

Concerts attended thus far:

3rd Jan, Beach House, Enmore Theatre

11st Jan, Django Django, The Metro

21st Jan, Dirty Projectors, Sydney Opera House

27th Jan, Perfume Genius, The Famous Spiegeltent

Released in Jan:

Pere Ubu - Lady from Shanghai
Solange - True EP
Everything Everything - Arc
Yo La Tengo - Fade
Christopher Owens - Lysandre
I Am Kloot - Let It All In
Radar Bros. - Eight
Local Natives - Hummingbird
Tegan and Sara - Heartthrob
My Bloody Valentine - MBV

Upcoming Releases:

5 Feb
Bjork - Bastards
Eels - Wonderful, Glorious
Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse
Jim James - Regions of Light and Sound of God

11 Feb
Foals - Holy Fire

18 Feb
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away

19 Feb
Major Lazer - Free the Universe

26 Feb
Atoms for Peace - AMOK
Woodpigeon - Thumbtacks + Glue

5 Mar
Son Volt - Honky Tonk
They Might Be Giants - Nanobots

12 Mar
David Bowie - The Next Day
Devendra Banhart - Mala

19 Mar
Low - The Invisible Way
Josh Rouse - The Happiness Waltz

26 Mar
Depeche Mode - Delta Machine
The Strokes - Comedown Machine
Wavves - Afraid of Heights

2 Apr
The Flaming Lips - The Terror

9 Apr
The Knife - Shaking the Habitual
Villagers - {Awayland}

16 Apr
Iron & Wine - Ghost on Ghost
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito

30 Apr
!!! - THR!!!ER
Akron/Family - Sub Verses

7 May
Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City

14 May
John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts

Videos

 Ready for more.

Devendra Banhart at The Metro 27/07/2011

Dear Warner Brothers,
Please give Devendra Banhart the complete artistic control which he fully deserves and needs in order to truly flourish as an artist.
Dressed in an (office?) shirt, sports jacket and skinny jeans with his hair cropped shorter and a neatly trimmed beard, he looked every part the office worker and about as comfortable as a fish out of water.
Attempts at making an artist more palatable to the masses could also end up diminishing an artist' star quality.
Devendra's following love him for his talent, creativity and individuality.

Okay, I know I've made the assumption that this toning down is a corporate directive rather than a personal choice.

Let's face it, his appeal should never go mainstream.
Another Madonna he'll never be.  And thank heavens for that. 

It was great seeing more local talent primed for the world stage.  This time I'm talking about opening act Melbourne's Husky.  It wasn't till frontman Husky Gawenda covered America (The band's) Sandman that I connected their sounds to 70's harmonised bands.

It felt as though Devendra was slightly reserved for the first half of the concert. 
That's not to say he didn't try to keep things jovial & light in parts, occasionally sticking his tongue out, the odd grimaces and yelps to hit the notes and body jerks we're accustomed to in his performances, only more self-conscious this time around.

After the aforesaid offending jacket came off and sleeves were rolled up, that it felt he was more in his element.
It was also funny when dylexsia struck and he had lines jumbled and was saved as he toyed with the mistake.  There were songs where he'd dug in deep and delivered soul-stirring moments.  My favourite, Brindo, was performed with gentlemanly aplomb; whereas fan-favourite Seahorse saw some jazzy embellishments and a note sung and sustained turning almost into a Red Indian call!  Now that's what I call talent!
A surprise song inclusion was a cover of Yellow Magic Orchestra's Sportsman.

Special mention must be made about backing band The Grogs who were outstanding in their versatility in playing the various genres covered throughout the night.

שָׁלוֹם  8.6/10

Setlist and freebie Dorothy and the Originals' Sound Diary CD (Looks like Devendra's artwork).

Yello Magic Orchestra - Sportsman