Most unfortunate, the approval to shoot Radiohead didn’t come through. All was not lost as friends of Austin Town Hall, Other Lives, were opening. Into the bowels of the Erwin Center I headed to get shots of a band that everyone should experience live.
And should I mention I saw Major Applewhite again? Yeah, I did. He was kicking it with Manny Diaz.
Anyway, click through for pics of our friends on the big stage…
As I regroup and prepare my brain for a second night of Radiohead mania, I wanted to reflect a bit on our evening the Moody Theater. Getting be one of the relative few that got to go, I carried a bit of reverence into the venue, no doubt one of the smallest they will play on this or any tour. I was soon disappointed that not all concert-goers shared this feeling of privilege.
Click past the break and I’ll reveal my highs (the band) and the lows (the crowd) and the set list.
A brief synopsis of the Twilight Sad has some ups and downs. They burst onto the scene with the explosive Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters, filled with squalling guitars and blissful pop. But, then they took an odd side-step with Forget the Night Ahead, which was a more straightforward approach. Now, officially three albums into their career with No One Can Ever Know, the band is still treading the darker side of humanity, just with much more polished edges and electronic flourishes.
James Graham’s vocals have always been a vital part of the Twilight Sad, and it takes the lead on opener “Alphabet.” More important, however, is that the guitars work that made the band such a bombastic group is now being replaced by shades of electronics, at least in the foreground of this track. You can’t claim that this is a poor track, but the absence of the dynamics that flourished early in the band’s career really aren’t present on No One Can Ever Know. Still, with Graham’s prowess, it’s hard to dislike anything the band puts together. ”Sick” almost feels like it’s utilizing some of the electronic playfulness we found on Kid A or Amnesiac, combining grooves, beats and strengthened vocals. Just one listen to the chorus and you’ll surely find yourself fawning over this number.
Even though it’s easy to see the differences from album one to album three, the band’s not completely lacking energy on this effort. In “Another Bed” you’ll find a pulsating rhythm brooding beneath the number, and melded with further electronic swaths that cut through the track. Similarly, “Don’t Move” uses the same stylistic accompaniment, although the pounding of the drums definitely provides hints of a darker force just waiting to explode on No One Can Ever Know. Yet, there’s something amiss, even as you see the band is aided by their craftsmanship. The whole of the record feels really sterile, and lacking a bit of passion, which drew me to the band long ago. ”Kill It in the Morning” is perhaps the only track of the collection that really sees Graham pushing himself, and it doesn’t arrive until the end. But, you should definitely give it a listen as there’s hints of Trent Reznor in the production of the song; the ending where it drops off and you get Graham again is also a special moment. You just get the feeling that the band is capable of so much more.
For what it’s worth, No One Can Ever Know is an enjoyable listen, and one that brand new fans will surely appreciate. But, followers of The Twilight Sad might be a bit disheartened by the listen, as the group still seems like they’re trying to find their footing in the current musical landscape. I appreciate the dark quality musically and lyrically, but it’s placed too simply, lacking much of the force you know the band is capable of producing. Perhaps this is just a stepping stone to greater ambitions, and only time will tell. For now, we can be pleased, just not blown away.
Well, it’s a little later than last year but it’s time again to turn the music down and put on your art-critic monocles and top hats. Yes, in a year where some heavy hitters came along with some high quality production, I did my best to highlight of few of the lesser known ‘other’ artists involved in completing the full album package. Just like the last two years (2009, 2010), my discriminating eye is looking for quality in a holistic sense when it comes to album artwork. Essentially my main question is whether or not it could stand on its own bringing into the discussion composition, tone, balance, introduction of text and its use, color, etc. With that said, here are a few of the best album covers for 2011.
Hey, it’s me Jon. Back for some insightful commentary on popular music. JK JK LOL!! I’m actually here with another thinly veiled excuse for rambling nonsense and forced humor. Today’s list is about songs that have the same title (not to be confused with cover songs). For no reason in particular, I have decided to give myself bonus points for selecting songs with maxim musical disparity. Read on if you dare.
So just as I did last year, I’m going to take a minute to be a negative nancy and focus on some of the downer moments of our ACL weekend. As always, the positives greatly outweigh the negatives and I still enjoyed my festival experience (no matter how much it rained). You’ll notice that most of my list consists of things that no one can really do anything about so that leaves me hopeful that next year will be near perfection. I’m willing to bet that you can guess my #1 & #2 slots, but damnit if that weather wasn’t the worst I can ever remember. Yes it may even top the 107 degree heat and the dust from hell. So follow the jump for my bottom 5 of ACL 2009.
Following their critically acclaimed third LP, Alopecia, Berkeley, California’s Why? return with Eskimo Snow, a new collection of hip hop infused indie rock.
The word “new” may be misleading because the tracks on Eskimo Snow were recorded during the same sessions as 2008’s Alopecia. One might think that songs recorded in the same session would carry familiar ties between them, and sure there are similarities, most notably singer/MC Jonathan “Yoni” Wolf’s distinct voice, but, for the most part the bulk of the similarities end there. I guess the clearest example would be explained like this: Eskimo Snow : Amnesiac :: Alopecia : Kid A. Radiohead, on Kid A, was focused with a clear vision and while Alopecia isn’t a high concept album it shares the same focus. Yoni Wolf spits self-deprecating, acid tongued rhymes that tell tales of loneliness and depravity.
On Eskimo Snow, like Radiohead on Amnesiac, Why? offer up a much looser collection of songs, and while these songs aren’t bad they also don’t make up a very cohesive release. Wolf mostly abandons the rhymes for traditionally sung vocals. In an interview with Pitchfork, Wolf noted that his work on Eskimo Snow was “the least hip-hop out of anything I’ve ever been involved with”.
There are several tracks, such as ‘Against Me’, ‘These Hands’, and ‘The Blackest Purse’ that are reminiscent of the bands earlier work. I would have much preferred a tight EP, rather than this meandering album. I am looking forward to their next release with a truly new batch of songs.
Why? will be performing Sunday, November 8th at Fun Fun Fun Fest. They take the Orange Stage at 3:50 p.m.
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Download: Why? – Against Me [MP3]
What? You still listen to THAT album? That record is so 2004! Well, that’s okay, because we really like that one too, which is why we decided to come up with a list of our favorite albums of the last decade (2000-2009). Sure, these might not be YOUR favorite records, or the most critically acclaimed, but we sat down and really thought out every record from the past ten years that we keep coming back to in our collections. You’re likely to disagree with some of these, and we won’t tell you we’re absolutely right we just know that these happen to be OUR favorites. If you think we totally blew it here, feel free to tell us so, but be nice, as our egos are kind of fragile. Follow the jump for more.
