Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Wide Eyed Explorer for May 26th

Back with a new list. First time ever a band has two songs in the list, and two in the Top 10 even. The Horrors are on their way to become a 2009 sensation and it shows. The Thermals and their O-A-O-A-O-O reached #1. Highest newcomer ever is Animal Collective with the appropriate Summertime Clothes. Ida Maria's song was re-released in the US and deserves to be in our Top 23. Enjoy!


TW LW #W
01 02 04 The Thermals - Now We Can See (1x#1)
02 -- 01 Animal Collective - Summertime Clothes
03 15 02 We Were Promised Jetpacks - Quiet Little Voices
04 08 03 The Airborne Toxic Event - Happiness is Overrated
05 13 03 Dananananaykroyd - Black Wax
06 01 04 Neko Case - People Got A Lot Of Nerve (1x#1)
07 -- 01 The Horrors - Who Can Say
08 03 04 The Galacticos - He Said She Said
09 04 04 The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea
10 20 02 Super Tennis - Super Tennis Theme Song
11 -- 01 Fight Like Apes - Something Global
12 06 04 Mastodon - Divinations
13 09 04 The View - Temptation Dice
14 05 03 De Staat - Wait for Evolution
15 23 03 The Joy Formidable - Whirring
16 07 04 The Gaslight Anthem - Great Expectations
17 -- 01 God Help the Girl - Come Monday Night
18 10 04 Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Young Adult Friction
19 -- 01 Noisettes - Never Forget You
20 -- 01 Ida Maria - I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked
21 19 02 Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Sugarfoot
22 14 04 Love Is All - Wishing Well
23 17 04 A Place To Bury Strangers - Missing You

Monday, May 18, 2009

Short Evan Dando Review

Could only find 1 single worth mentioning in our revered Top 23, so we decided to skip a week and give you a new one next time.
Did add a short review of the Evan Dando show at the Paradiso on Sunday.

Evan Dando: Paradiso May 19th

He didn’t say much this night. Before the last song he told us that he just had some Snickers to eat and his stomach was hurting. Seemed he had some of the other fine local ‘cuisine’ as well. He also mentioned that 7pm was very early for a show. And with the sunlight still shining into the small Paradiso room between the curtains it was. But it’s a busy place.

Evan Dando has been here many times before with both the Lemonheads and as a solo artists. But the venues are getting smaller and smaller. This time it was the small Paradiso room with chairs and tables with enough room to move.

A not so talkative Dando played his songs almost without pausing in between. No stage presence this time but the songs speak for themselves. With around twenty years of songs to choose from the quality of the man’s songs is high. Drug Buddy, Bit Part, It’s A Shame About Ray, Outdoor Type, Big Gay Heart, all the greatest hits were played.

An interesting evening with Evan Dando was still worth it, but let’s hope next time he will stay off the Snickers.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Clear Is A Color: Shellac @ Paradiso May 14th

Shellac: Paradiso May 14th

I could start this article by giving you the short history of Steve Albini, how he has been in the influential groups Rapemen and Big Black in the 80’s, produced albums by Nirvana, the Breeders, Page & Plant (that’s half of Led Zeppelin for the young ones among you), the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and many more. Or how his band performs when they wish without promotion, merchandising or any roadies to speak of. Or maybe his love for vinyl and that Shellac records are oftentimes released on vinyl weeks before the CD version. But let’s stick to the music this time.



Call it noise-rock or math rock, Shellac describe themselves as a minimalist rock trio. They take a minimalist, do-it yourself approach to everything they do: making up the setlist as they go along, no frills, no other instruments, no encore and no “tiny cymbals that go ‘pish’".

For a trio Shellac makes an extreme amount of noise where every instrument has an equal part. This can be seen in how they are positioned on stage. Where most often the drummer would be in the back, here he’s in the middle of the stage. The only other band where I’ve seen this is Battles where John Stanier is the man in the middle.
Drummer Todd Trainer is one of the hardest pounding drummers you will find and it’s worth just looking at him all night. His drumkit is fairly small but he hits the hell out of it. So much that you can see the woodchips fly of his already thick drumsticks.
He uses the instrument as an equal part of the band’s sound, not just for the rhythm. Besides, Shellac’s rhythms are just too weird and you can easily spot three or four time signature changes in one song. Songs that hardly ever are your standard 4/4 AABA structure. He brings color to the songs, builds the suspence and announces the arrival of either silence that can last seconds or an explosion: it might come in the form of one single note on a guitar, one thud of the bassdrum or the band might explode in unison.
In some songs Albini’s guitar will play the same notes over and over again leaving room for Trainer to fill the rest in with drumparts that are never the same, as if the drumfills were words of the lyrics; the thing you pay most attention to.

The good thing about having two producers in your band is an almost obsessive ear for sound. Rumbling but clear basslines that never distort, Albini’s screeching copper-plectrum-on-metal-strings unique guitar sound that goes right through you like a diamondsharpened circular saw, and his biting singing/shouting/speaking into the microphone. I felt it did need a few songs to get the mic adjusted right but after that the sound was pristine.

There was no setlist; the bandmembers decided on the spot what song to play. Songs from all the albums released since 1994 and a few singles like the monumental “Wingwalker”. Some short and fast, some long and monotone like “end of Radio” with a tension span of over 6 minutes before more happens than Weston’s basschords, Trainer’s snare drum and Albini shouting old bits of radio shows into the room. Easily a highlight that came at the end of the show that also had the suspenseful “Crow” and closer “Watch Song”

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Wide Eyed Explorer for May 12th.

Hello again.

Besides our regular Top 23 also a review of Love is All (and Franz Ferdinand)


01 02 03 Neko Case - People Got A Lot Of Nerve
02 06 03 The Thermals - Now We Can See
03 04 03 The Galacticos - He Said She Said
04 03 03 The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea
05 08 02 De Staat - Wait for Evolution
06 05 03 Mastodon - Divinations
07 01 03 The Gaslight Anthem - Great Expectations
08 17 02 The Airborne Toxic Event - Happiness is Overrated
09 09 03 The View - Temptation Dice
10 12 03 Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Young Adult Friction
11 16 03 Mark and the The Spies - Won't Work On Me
12 07 03 Lily Allen - Fuck You
13 14 02 Dananananaykroyd - Black Wax
14 10 03 Love Is All - Wishing Well
15 -- 01 We Were Promised Jetpacks - Quiet Little Voices
16 11 03 Jack Penate - Tonight's Today
17 13 03 A Place To Bury Strangers - Missing You
18 19 03 Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls
19 -- 01 Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Sugarfoot
20 -- 01 Super Tennis - Super Tennis Theme Song
21 18 03 Metric - Help I'm Alive
22 23 02 Andrew Bird - Fitz and the Dizzyspells
23 20 02 The Joy Formidable - Whirring






Love is All (and quite a bit of Franz Ferdinand).

Paradiso May 11th, 2009

Don’t tell anyone, but you can sometimes get into shows by big bands in the Paradiso by buying a ticket for a late concert in the small room upstairs.

At 21:55 I had my ticket to Swedish band Love is All scanned and went upstairs but apart from two people sitting on chairs the room was empty and the stage set up. Walking around I went through the doors leading to Paradiso’s grand main room where Franz Ferdinand was playing their sold out show. Going back and forth to small room I got to see the end of a great concert. Atmosphere was great and when they invited people onstage during ‘This Ffire’ it turned into an almost out of control party. Good thing they didn’t play one of their hits, never know how the frantic crowd would react to that. The band seemed to enjoy it and it’s probably a good thing they decided to do two Paradiso shows and not one in a bigger but less intimate hall.

The feedback of the amps was still humming through the old church when me and some other people took the short walk from the balcony to the small room where Swedish band Love is All started to play almost immediately after.

I got a ticket after hearing their second album “A Hundred Things That Keep Me Up At Night”, a collection of punky indie rock songs with catchy hooks and lyrics about the everyday things in life like messy rooms and seasickness.

Fronted by singer Josephine Olausson the band at times seemed to work too hard. The sound got messy whereby you missed the great hooks and funny lyrics. But Josephine is a warm stage presence and her English accent is charming. Hindered by the very small stage they didn’t have much room to move about, although I wonder if they ever really do. The drummer’s bass drum seemed to do the most moving.

It’s still amazing how Sweden can have so many bands that are worth listening to. Most of their styles have a layer of pop that can be at times annoying. Swedish music almost never has a sense of urgency and depth that North-American or British bands have. Maybe it is because life in Sweden is generally good and there is nothing really to complain about. The Blues could never have been started in Sweden, but at least they have quite a few good bands releasing records each year, and Love is All should be noted for their originality and for not stepping into the pop-trap that lured a lot of bands.

The show only lasted 35 minutes, but they did have Franz Ferdinand opening for them, what else do you want.

Check out their single Wishing Well, now in the Top 23

Monday, May 4, 2009

Explorer 23 for May 4th

New Top 23 for May 4th. Expect some concert reviews in the coming weeks, starting with Love is All and Shellac next week.


TW LW #W
01 03 02 The Gaslight Anthem - Great Expectations (1x#1)
02 08 02 Neko Case - People Got A Lot Of Nerve
03 01 02 The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea (1x#1)
04 09 02 The Galacticos - He Said She Said
05 04 02 Mastodon - Divinations
06 11 02 The Thermals - Now We Can See
07 02 02 Lily Allen - Fuck You
08 -- 01 De Staat - Wait for Evolution
09 20 02 The View - Temptation Dice
10 06 02 Love Is All - Wishing Well
11 10 02 Jack Penate - Tonight's Today
12 12 02 Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Young Adult Friction
13 07 02 A Place To Bury Strangers - Missing You
14 -- 01 Dananananaykroyd - Black Wax
15 05 02 Titus Andronicus - My Time Outside The Womb
16 15 02 Mark and the The Spies - Won't Work On Me
17 -- 01 The Airborne Toxic Event - Happiness is Overrated
18 22 02 Metric - Help I'm Alive
19 17 02 Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls
20 -- 01 The Joy Formidable - Whirring
21 13 02 Art Brut - Alcoholics Unanimous
22 18 02 Red Light Company - Arts And Crafts
23 -- 01 Andrew Bird - Fitz and the Dizzyspells